Extremely large Swiss gold hunting case pocket watch Circa 1910

Pocket watch with repeater and high relief case Africa
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An extremely rare, large gold hunting case pocket watch with relief case Africa and quarter and minute repeater, delivered to Pérusset & Didisheim in Buenos Aires, Argentina and made by Longines in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, circa 1910. The watch comes in a very high quality watch box made of leather, velvet and silk.
The unique full hunter (savonnette) case in a rare “frosted” version is made of 18 Carat gold, has the shape of a water drop (à-goutte), a spring cover with high relief depiction of a lion in Africa, a Longines serial number and a case punch P&D for Pérusset & Didisheim Buenos Aires. The case is of very rare quality, crafted in pink and yellow gold, possibly a one off made to order. The white enamel dial has an outer ring with Arabic and Roman numerals for respectively the minutes and the hours, a subsidiary dial at six o’clock with Arabic numerals for the seconds and red gold hands. The dust cover is engraved with 4 Grand Prix in Paris (twice), Milan and Bruxelles and  Quarter and Minute Repeater in Spanish and the exquisite Longines export lever movement has a quarter and minute repeater.
Dust cover, movement and dial are signed.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Weight: 108 g
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Signed: Longines
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Longines
Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A. or simply Longines is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832. Auguste had two partners, lawyers Henri Raiguel and Florian Morel. The company’s original name was Raiguel Jeune & Cie. By 1846, Raigeul and Morel had retired from the watchmaking industry, leaving Agassiz as the sole head of the company. Several years later, Agassiz brought his nephew, trained economist Ernest Francillon, into the business. Francillon was the mastermind behind several impressive innovations that would distinguish the company from its competitors. Later, when Agassiz started suffering from ill health, he passed leadership to Francillon.
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Under Francillon, the company began segueing out of the établissage system and moved towards more modern production methods. Francillon solidified his firm’s progression to mass production in 1867 by establishing his first factory in southern St. Imier known locally as Les Longines (long meadows), which gave rise to the Longines name. To help his efforts to improve the production at Longines further, Francillon brought on Jacques David, a talented engineer. He appointed him as Technical Director and put him in charge of the new factory. Francillon sent Jacques David to the 1876 World’s Fair in Philadelphia to gather new ideas and strategies from American watchmakers. Upon returning, David wrote a 108-page report detailing what he learned during his trip. The report is considered one of the most significant documents in watchmaking history, detailing the inner workings of American watch factories. In his analysis, David concluded the Swiss watchmaking industry needed to change significantly to keep pace with its American competitors.
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In 1878, Longines developed its first chronograph movement, the 20H, a mono-pusher chronograph, in which all three chronograph functions (start, stop and reset) were controlled through the crown. With this movement, Longines could produce stopwatches suitable for precise timing in professional events. By 1880, Longines was known for the quality and precision of its timepieces, that year Francillon trademarked the Longines name and its winged hourglass logo in 1889. It is the oldest unchanged active trademark registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). By 1886, Longines had established itself as a primary supplier of timing equipment for most New York sporting officials. The company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group and its predecessors since 1983.