Danish gold five-minute repeating full hunter watch Circa 1865

Full hunting cased pocket watch by Jules Jürgensen
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A fine Danish hunting-cased pocket watch with a five-minute repeater and patented Jürgensen bow hand-setting circa 1865. The watch’s case is crafted from 18K gold with factory glazing. The enamel dial showcases Roman radial hours, an outer minutes track, a subsidiary dial that displays seconds, and blued steel Breguet-style hands. The movement consists of a bridge movement that features two hammers/two gongs, a gold screw compensation balance, and a lever escapement.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Weight: 118 g
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Signed: Jules Jürgensen Copenhagen
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Jules Frédéric Jürgensen was born in 1808 and died in 1877. He was the son of Urban Jürgensen and a very eminent watchmaker himself. Jules was born in Le Locle, Switzerland, but he moved to Denmark with his parents as a child. In 1830, after his father’s death, the company was taken over by Jules and his brother Louis Urban. In 1833, Jules returned to Le Locle and built up a successful business. Jürgensen, who was watchmaker to the King of Denmark, was made a Knight of the Légion d’Honneur and Knight of the Royal Order of Dannebrog. Between 1870 and 1876, he was a member of the commission of surveillance of the Geneva School of Horology, along with Ekegren, Potter and others. He was also a member of many commissions in Switzerland judging horological contests. He stamped most of his watches on the pillar plate under the dial ‘Jules Jürgensen of Copenhagen’. After his death, the business was continued by his brother and in 1886, it was sold to an employee, H. Kiens, whose sons Jules (1837-1894) and Jacques Alfred (1842-1912) continued the business, as did the House of Heuer afterwards. Jürgensen invented his bow-setting mechanism in 1867. He wanted to prevent any accidental changing of the watch setting. In his design, the cover had to be opened to turn the bow far enough to engage the setting pin. In some of his watches, he did not want the back cover, which was not spring-loaded, to be opened by the owner. Therefore, for his watches with an open face, he used a special case in which the front was designed with a bezel utilizing a lifting mechanism like that in a hunting case. The setting could be done safely by first opening the front by pushing on the stem, turning the bow until it touched the crystal and then setting the watch.