Swiss 18 carat rose gold minute repeating lever watch Circa 1900

Rose gold ladies’ watch by E. Robert & Co
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A Swiss 18 carat rose gold open faced hunting cased minute repeating lever pocket watch, circa 1900. Bridge movement, two hammers, two gongs, a club tooth lever escapement and screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with black Arabic hours, an outer minute track, red Arabic five minute numerals, sunk subsidiary seconds and Louis XIV hands. The plain case with engraved monogram LC on the front. Dial signed, case numbered, movement signed and numbered, case and movement with matching numbers. Comes with a mahogany box.
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Diameter: 38 mm
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Weight: 59 g
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Signed: E. Robert & Co Geneva
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It is extremely rare to find such an outstanding high end ladies’ pocket watch with striking trains.
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In the middle of the 19th century, Eugène Robert, a native of La Chaux-de-Fonds, emigrated to the USA. When he arrived in America, he first found employment with J. A. Abry. Together with Albert Wittnauer, he founded a watch shop there around 1845. In 1866, Robert founded his own watch dealership in New York under the name of J. Eugen Robert and around 1868 a branch office in Geneva. During this time Robert also married a young Swiss woman named Wittnauer. Robert signed a contract with Ernest Francillon in 1877 for an annual purchase of 12,000 watches. After Eugène Robert withdrew from the company in 1890 and Albert C. Wittnauer took over the business, the company traded as A. Wittnauer & Co. Wittnauer owned several agencies in the USA and Canada. It exclusively offered watches from the Swiss companies Longines, Agassiz, Angelus, Stolz, Girard-Perregaux and Audemars Piguet. The company also operated a watch manufacturing business under its own name.