Swiss gold chronograph made for the Chinese market Circa 1900

Gold minute repeating pocket watch
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A small and rare Swiss, 18 carat gold minute repeating hunting cased keyless pocket watch with a chronograph, circa 1900. Swiss made for the Chinese market. An engine-turned cover and case back, inside front cover with engraved Chinese and a hinged gold cuvette. White enamel dial with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track and outermost seconds divided into fifths and calibrated to 300 units. Subsidiary sunk seconds dial and pink gold hands. Rhodium-plated movement, 15 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, Breguet balance spring, index regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a slide on the band, centrifugal governor. Dial and cuvette signed.
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Diameter: 36 mm
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Thickness: 15 mm
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Signed: L. Vrard & Co.  Tientsin
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Maison L. Vrard & Cie. Vrard & Cie was one of the finest and most renowned watchmaking companies of its time and specialized in trading on the Chinese market. The company, which was established in 1860 under the name Laidrich & Vrard, began operating out of Tsientsin in 1862 and opened a branch in Shanghai soon after that. The Shanghai office also represented the Bovet brand. Vrard produced relatively simple watches as well as highly complicated and extravagant pieces, some of the high-quality watches had enamel cases made by the most eminent makers of Geneva such as Louis Rosselet, Marc Dufaux, Louis Millenet, Louis Pauthex and P.A. Champod. One of the highlights in Vrard’s collection was a piece created for the Empress Dowager Tzu-Hsi (or Cixi) and gained the company a royal warrant. Vrard’s Chinese Trademark ‘Hantali’ and the company history are illustrated and described in ‘La Montre Chinoise’ by Alfred Chapuis.