German 18K rose gold open faced lever watch Circa 1890

Rose gold Glashütte lever watch by A. Lange & Söhne
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A German 18 carat rose gold open faced lever pocket watch, circa 1890. Sold on August 31st, 1890 to Dürrstein & Co, Dresden for 253 DM. 3/4 Plate movement, lever escapement, screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with Roman hours and outer minute divisions, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock. Plain case, the back decorated with the elaborately detailed order Pour le Mérite and the inscription In Treue Fest 3 Juni 1918 (forever loyal, June 3rd, 1918), only one man received the order on that particular day near the end of World War I, the German officer Werner Eduard Fritz von Blomberg. Dial signed, case numbered, movement signed and numbered. Comes with an Extract from the Archives.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Weight: 106 g
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Signed: A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte B/Dresden
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Former property of the German general Werner von Blomberg.
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Werner von Blomberg was born in 1878 in Stargard in Pomerania. After his training at the Prussian military academy in Gross-Lichterfelde, he started his military career in 1897 and was made a captain in 1911. During the First World War, he was deeply involved in the planning and operations of the battle of Verdun. Von Blomberg continued his career under the National Socialists and was made a field marshal in 1936. However, in the wake of a fallout with leadership after a dispute over his second marriage, which was witnessed by Hitler and Göring, Blomberg left his position in 1938. As a consequence, he was not involved in military operations of World War II but was nevertheless arrested after the war and questioned as a witness during the Nuremberg trials. Blomberg died from cancer in March 1946.
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The order Pour le Mérite was established in 1810 by Prussian King Frederick II. It was the highest order conferred for military services and only awarded to officers. After the revolution in 1918/1919 and the end of the Prussian monarchy, the military class of the Pour le Mérite became extinct. A separate class of the order, the Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts introduced on the advice of Alexander von Humboldt, however, still exists.
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Ferdinand Adolph Lange was the founder of A. Lange & Söhne. He was born in 1815 as the son of Johann Samuel Lange. Early in life, his parents separated and he was adopted by a foster family. Luckily this family offered him a chance at proper education and in 1829, he joined the Technical University of Dresden. Lange’s master was Christian Friedrich Gutkaes, the maker of the famous five-minute clock in the Dresden Opera House and the court watchmaker later on. Lange finished his apprenticeship with honours and went on to work with Gutkaes as his assistant for more than two years. In 1837, Lange decided he wanted to learn the watchmaking craft from the best of the time and this decision took him to Paris, Switzerland and England. He spent four years with the master watchmaker Winnerl, a student of Breguet, in Paris. Lange returned to Dresden in 1841 and took over his now father-in-law Gutkaes’ business in 1842. He had the ambition to bring prosperity to the once rich, now unfortunate Erzgebirge region, Glashütte, he wanted to build a watchmaking industry and create jobs. He received funding from the high council of Saxony and on December 7th, 1845, Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded A. Lange & Cie. He started with fifteen young men who were obliged to work with him for at least five years and following Lange encouraged his apprentices to found their own specialized firms in Switzerland. He set up a watchmaking cluster in the region along with his colleagues Julius Assmann, Adolf Schneider and Moritz Grossmann. At the time, there was a specialist for every part, producing individual pieces of the highest quality. Ferdinand Adolph developed numerous mechanisms, from the remontoir to dead-seconds and repeaters and he introduced the metric system to watchmaking. Eventually, it took Glashütte watchmaking 20 years to develop. After two successful decades and as the mayor of Glashütte Ferdinand Adolph Lange retired in 1868. He enjoyed his spacious house built adjacent to the factory, which today serves as the headquarters of the modern A. Lange & Söhne. He gave the reigns of his legacy to his sons Richard and Emil Lange, subsequently, the company’s name was changed from A. Lange & Cie to A. Lange & Söhne. Under their management A. Lange & Söhne expanded tremendously. Ferdinand Adolph Lange died in 1875.