Swiss 18K gold quarter repeating chronograph Circa 1900

Gold keyless lever chronograph
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A Swiss 18 carat gold hunting cased quarter repeating keyless pocket watch with chronograph made in the early 20th century. This watch features a mechanical movement with crown winding, an anker escapement, a spiral balance and an advance/delay adjustment, repeating the quarter hours with two hammers on a gong. Its dial is white enamel, displaying Roman hours, outer minute divisions, an outermost fifth of a second track with five minute numerals, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock, a central hand for the chronograph and gilt Louis XV hands. The case has a smooth back, and a signed and numbered gold cuvette engraved with prize medals and technical details.
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Diameter: 59 mm
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Weight 125.5 g
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Signed: Tempora
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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 by 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 besetting 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 take maximum advantage of its remarkable know-how to develop new ways of measuring time.