Swiss silver keyless lever with high relief cast case Circa 1907

Pocket watch by International Watch Co
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A fine and rare Swiss silver keyless lever pocket watch with cast high relief case made for the 1907 Schützenfest, Zurich. Frosted gilt movement, 17 jewels, screwed chatons, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, swan-neck micrometer regulator. Hinged silver cuvette inscribed Uhrenfabrik von J. Rauschenbach’s Erben vormals International Watch Co, Schaffhausen. White enamel dial with Arabic numerals, outer minute track with luminous dot five minute divisions, subsidiary seconds and original luminous blued steel skeleton hands. Case cast with two female heads in profile and signed A. Boesch.sc., Holy Frs. grav., the oak and laurel leaf border inscribed EIDG.SCHUETZENFEST IN ZUERICH.1907, oak and laurel cast bezel, cast scroll bow. Cuvette and movement signed, case and movement numbered. Accompanied by the original fitted box and Bulletin de Marche.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Signed: International Watch Co Schaffhausen
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The Schützenfest (German ‘marksmen’s festival’) is an annual traditional event celebrated in the Northwest regions of Germany, Bavaria and Switzerland. It is a kind of fair featuring a shooting match among members of the local marksmen’s association and usually takes place in summer. At a Schützenfest, contestants prove their shooting ability, for example by aiming at a wooden eagle. The winner becomes the ‘Schützenkönig’ (‘king of marksmen’) until the following year’s competition.