Swiss gold hunting cased quarter repeating lever Circa 1885

Gold quarter repeater attributed to Louis Audemars
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A very fine Swiss 18 carat gold hunting cased quarter repeating lever pocket watch, circa 1885. Nickel finished movement, 31 jewels, wolf’s tooth winding, gold wheel train, counterpoised straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with gold meantime and temperature adjustment screws, blued steel Breguet balance spring with overcoil, index regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a slide on the band. Gold hinged cuvette. White enamel dial with narrow Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds and original blued steel halberd hands. Engine-turned case with polished borders. Case numbered and movement numbered on the dial plate.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Signed: No name
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Louis Audemars (1782-1833) was born in La Vallée de Joux, at 16 Louis Audemars was apprenticed to Philippe Meylan and soon established his reputation for the fine workmanship of his movements. All eight of Audemar’s sons continued in the family firm, making finished movements, and around 1837 inventing the keyless winding/setting system known today as the Audemars system. In 1848 Audemars began producing complete watches. The company became recognized as one of the best, furnishing the major Swiss and French manufacturers such as Le Roy, Patek Philippe, and Vacheron Constantin, with highly complicated watches and movements.