Rare French gold and enamel Art Deco pocket watch Circa 1925

Gold and enamel lever watch by Sarda
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An extremely attractive and rare French 18 carat gold and enamel Art Deco pocket watch, circa 1925.
The polished case with polychrome enamel Art Deco decoration, the engraved bezels, pendant and bow are decorated to match. A signed two-tone dial with a guilloché center, applied gold radial Breguet style hours, outer minutes dots, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and gold Breguet hands.
Flat gold plated lever movement.
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Diameter: 47 mm
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Weight: 52 g
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Signed: Sarda Besançon
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Sarda Besançon was founded in 1893 by Hyacinthe Sarda (1869-1941 ). He was born in Prades in the Pyrénées Orientales, France. In 1890, he volunteered for the 10th Infantry Battalion in Besançon, which was the centre of French watch and clock making. He soon made a name for himself, repairing the pocket watches of his fellow soldiers.

Having left the army in 1893, he moved into a shop premises in Besançon, where he started by repairing watches before embarking on a watchmaking career, calling the company Sarda Besançon. He had cleverly noted all his army contacts and his business grew rapidly by advertising them. He advertised his services and watches, offering an early form of hire purchase by mail order and eventually became one of France’s largest mail order companies.

When his two sons, Robert and Roger, were old enough, he enrolled them in the company. Eventually, he employed more than 50 staff to make many types of watches and clocks in-house, including everything from basic pocket watches up to chronometers, bracket and coach watches right up to wall clocks and long case clocks. In addition, he imported ébauche movements from Switzerland, which he cased and dialled.

He also carried a wide range of jewellery to suit all pockets. Despite the economic troubles of the 1920s, the business survived mainly because he offered payment on credit terms on over 250 clocks and watches by mail order. By this time, he had also branched out into producing many different types and designs of wristwatches. He had a goldsmiths department on his premises, making rings, bracelets, necklaces and medals, which he sold in his shop and from his catalogues in addition to fountain pens, binoculars, phonographs and cameras. The business prospered.

 After Hyacinthe died in 1941, the two brothers continued to run the business successfully until they sold out to Difor in 1961.