Swiss 18K gold open faced repeating cylinder watch Circa 1840

Gold quarter repeater
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A fine Swiss 18 carat gold open faced quarter repeating cylinder pocket watch, circa 1840. Frosted gilt movement, Ø 40 mm, a cylinder escapement, three-arm balance with flat balance spring and an index regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a plunge in the bow stem. A hinged gold cuvette. Silver sunray engine-turned dial with Roman hours, outer minute divisions and gold Breguet hands. The engine-turned case with a polished bezel and back rim. Cuvette signed, movement numbered.
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Diameter: 46 mm
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Signed: J. Frs. Bautte & Ce Genève
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In 1791 watchmaker and goldsmith Jean-François Bautte signed his first watches. He created a manufacturing company in Geneva, grouping for the first time ever all the watchmaking facets of that time. This included the engineering of the watch all the way to the final hand assembly and hand polishing of each piece. In 1832, Jacques Bautte and Jean-Samuel Rossel succeeded him, becoming the head of the company. In 1852, the watchmaker Constant Girard founded Girard & Cie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. He then married Marie Perregaux in 1854 and the Girard-Perregaux company was founded in 1856. In 1906, Constant Girard-Gallet, who took over control of the company from his father, acquired the Bautte firm and merged it with Girard-Perregaux & Cie.