Elegant, important Swiss gold complicated lever Circa 1920

Gold lever with ten complications by Audemars Piguet
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A very elegant, important, extremely rare and slim Swiss 18 carat gold open faced minute repeating astronomical keyless lever dress watch with phases and age of the moon, perpetual calendar, split-second chronograph and progressive 30-minute register, circa 1920. Rhodium-plated movement, 36 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance adjusted to heat, cold, isochronism and five positions, blued steel Breguet balance spring with swan-neck micrometre regulator, repeating with two polished steel hammers on gongs activated by a slide in the band, split-seconds chronograph with a button on the winding crown and push-piece in the band. Satiné silver dial with applied gold baton indexes, outer minute and chronograph divisions, subsidiary dials for days of the week, months of the leap-year cycle with outer 30-minute register, date and seconds concentric with a lunar calendar with inner moon phase aperture, original gold baton hands. Dial, case and movement signed, case and movement numbered. Solid, polished and brushed case. Accompanied by an 18 carat gold serpentine chain.
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Diameter: 49 mm
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Signed: Audemars Piguet Swiss
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The 10 complications: perpetual calendar, days of the month, days of the week, months, four-year cycle, moon phases and age, chronograph, split-seconds, function chronograph register, minute repeater.
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Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875 by Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet, aged 24 and 22 respectively, under the name ‘Audemars Piguet Manufacture d’Horlogerie’. Jules Audemars was born in Le Brassus in 1851, where he trained under master watchmakers of the area. After his apprenticeship, Jules Audemars began work as a ‘repasseur’ until 1874, then settled in Gimel and opened a small business. He did not obtain the success he had hoped, probably due to the recession which was then beginning, and eighteen months later he returned to Le Brassus, looking for a new situation more in keeping with his exceptional watchmaking skill. Edward Auguste Piguet, born two years after Jules Audemars, received a similar education. He completed his training as a ‘repasseur’ under Charles Capt.
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The two met in 1875 in Le Brassus. The Audemars Piguet company was officially founded in 1889. Nevertheless, a brand was registered at the ‘Office technique de l’Edition et de la Publicité’ in Bern, on December 6, 1882, for movements and watch cases. In the records, Audemars Piguet & Cie is described as operating all year long and employing 10 male employees. In 1880, a branch was opened in Geneva. Gifted with exceptional technical abilities, Jules Audemars became the firm’s technical manager. He patented several inventions in Switzerland and in the USA, and travelled extensively, particularly to America, where he was fascinated by the potential for trade. Edward Piguet was the financial specialist of the firm. The two men managed the company together until 1918 when Jules Audemars died at the age of 67. Edward Piguet died the following year. Certain of their models became symbolic of the skill and technique of Audemars Piguet. Their minute-repeating, perpetual calendar, split-seconds chronograph pocket watch was presented at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1889. They opened stores in Paris, London, Berlin and New York, and made watches of different styles: French, English, German and American. They took part in several important exhibitions and fairs.
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Around 1915, the company began manufacturing wristwatches, while still continuing the production of traditional and complicated pocket watches. They made many repeating watches. In 1920, after the death of the two founders, Audemars Piguet created the smallest minute repeating watch, and, in 1911, the 10”’ movement. Audemars Piguet products were sold in Le Brassus, Geneva, London, Paris, Berlin and New York. The manufacture worked in collaboration with important importers and retailers all over the world. Their clients included, among others: Dent and Frodsham in London, Tiffany in New York, Cartier and Breguet in Paris, Bulgari in Rome, and Dürrstein in Glashütte and Dresden. After the New York Stock Exchange crash in 1929, Audemars Piguet, like other manufactures, lost a large part of their American clientele. While 1932 was the worst year in the firm’s history, the firm remained in the hands of the Audemars Piguet families and their descendants. By 1933, the economic situation had greatly improved, and at the start of WWII, the major part of the Audemars Piguet production was destined for the USA. Later, in response to the strong interest in skeleton wristwatches and pocket watches, Audemars Piguet included these among their standard production. They remain so today, as do their famous complicated pocket watches invented over 100 years ago.