English 18K gold hunting chronograph with register Circa 1909

Gold keyless lever pocket watch
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A very fine English 18 carat gold hunting cased keyless lever pocket watch with chronograph and progressive 60-minute register, circa 1909. A polished case with a hinged gold cuvette. White enamel dial with Roman hours, an outer minute track and concentric fifths of a second track, Arabic five minute/seconds numerals, subsidiary seconds at 9 o’clock, 60-minute register dial at 3, blued steel spade hands. Frosted gilt, 3/4-plate movement, jewelled to the centre, lateral counterpoised lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with Breguet balance spring, balance with diamond endstone. Dial, case and movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Signed: Nicole Nielsen & Co.  London
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Nicole, Nielsen & Co. had a reputation for the fine quality of their watches; they were one of the main suppliers for Charles Frodsham. It started as a manufacturer of chronographs but extended its product range to include pocket chronometers, carrousel watches and tourbillons for well-known brands in London. The Swiss parent company Nicole & Capt was founded in Geneva in 1837. Adolphe Nicole and his partner Henry Capt, opened their first branch in 1840 in London. Jules Capt joined the company as a partner in 1843 after Henry Capt had died.
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One year later, Adolphe Nicole received his first patent. He was issued two more patents, in 1862, for a chronograph movement and in 1870, for a resilient lever. Shortly after Jules Capt’s death in 1876, Sophus Emil Nielsen, son-in-law and employee of Nicole, became a partner and applied for a patent for an up-and-down mechanism. In 1888, Nielsen sold the company to Mr North and held the position of managerial director together with Harrison Mill Frodsham. Whereas Nicole, Nielsen & Co. probably had many of their special parts made in Switzerland, the majority of parts were produced on the premises at Soho Square.
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In 1898, 31-year-old Robert Benson North became the director of the company. Sophus Emil Nielsen died in 1899. In 1904, the production range was extended to include tachometers for cars, and a new factory for this line was built in Watford in the northwest of London. In 1917, the company name changed from ‘Nicole Nielsen & Co Ltd’ to ‘North & Sons Ltd’, 14 Soho Square. After the First World War, the company suffered heavy sales losses. Robert Benson North died in 1929, and in 193,2 the company entered into liquidation, truly a sad ending for a staff of 350 in Watford and for the employees at headquarters at Soho Square.