Danish/Swiss 18K gold open faced dress watch Circa 1900

Gold dress watch by Jules Jürgensen
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An extremely rare and extra flat Danish/Swiss 18 carat gold open faced dress watch, circa 1845-1900. Full plate movement, key wind, Bagnolet calibre, cylinder escapement. The gold cuvette with dedication engraving Thomas W. Lawson from Jack Roche 1901. White enamel dial with Roman hours, outer minute divisions and moon hands. The polished case with a reeded band and maker’s mark JAD. Cuvette signed and numbered, case numbered.
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Diameter: 43 mm
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Weight: 47 g
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Signed: Jules Jürgensen Copenhagen
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The characteristic of the Bagnolet calibre is that it is laterally reversed, meaning that the dial is on the same side of the plate as the motion wheels. This construction makes it possible to have a very flat movement and to make it even flatter, the winding squares are replaced by square holes, therefore needing a key with a square tip for winding or hand setting. Many early watches by Jürgensen did not have signed dials, like this example. Originally this movement was No. 4914 from 1845, but not finished at that time. In 1861-1862 further work was carried out on the movement, which was renumbered as No. 9700. However, the watch was not finally finished until 1900, when it was renumbered yet again as No. 15439 and sold to New York.
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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 as a child moved to Denmark with his parents. 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 further was 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’.

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. 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.