Swiss gold hunting cased complicated lever watch Circa 1900

Gold full hunter with complications by Le Phare
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A large Swiss 18 carat gold hunting cased quarter repeating chronograph pocket watch with moon phases and full calendar, circa 1900. Greenish yellow enamel dial with Roman hours, an outer minute track, Arabic five minute numerals, outermost fifth of a second divisions, central apertures for the days of the week and months of the year in French, the date at 12 o’clock, subsidiary seconds with concentric phases of the moon at 6 and original gold Louis XIV hands. The spring loaded back of the polished case is engraved RB 19-3-’36 on the inside. Case numbered.
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Diameter: 62 mm
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Weight: 154.5 g
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Signed: Le Phare
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The striking mechanism is defective and the movement slightly oxidized, slightly scratched, with traces of rust and some parts are defective, it needs restoration.
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Le Phare. The company was originally founded by Charles Barbezat-Baillot (1847-1938) and Henry Guye (1838-1877) under the name Guye & Barbezat in Le Locle, Switzerland, high in the Neuchâtel mountains. In 1888, the firm’s name was changed to Le Phare, being the registered name of their complicated watches.

The company, which later launched the Jean d’Eve watch range, has left its mark on the story of Swiss watchmaking. Indeed, from 1889, its watches were rewarded by the most eminent prizes, a gold medal at the National Exhibition of 1896 in Geneva followed that of 1889 at the Great Universal Exhibition in Paris. In 1897 the silent regulator was invented. A veritable technological marvel that overcame the humming problems beset the repeater watches of the day. This brought another gold medal for Le Phare at the Paris Great Exhibition of 1900.

In 1900, the company advertised their brands that year as La Locloise, l’Esperanto, Le Phare, Tempora and La Volapuk. The company continued to develop and in 1970 was the second largest producer of chronograph watches in Switzerland. The management’s strategy is to maximise its remarkable know-how to develop new ways of measuring time.