Fine Swiss 18k gold gentleman’s pocket watch Circa 1920

Gold open faced pocket watch by E. Koehn
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A fine Swiss gentleman’s pocket watch with original wooden box, circa 1920.
18 carat gold, polished, monogrammed case with signed gold dome. Signed gilt dial with Arabic numerals, auxiliary seconds and Breguet hands. Nickel-plated bridge movement with 8 adj., 21 jewels, gold screw compensation balance and index spring fine adjusting device.
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Diameter: 46 mm
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Weight: 76 g
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Signed: H. R. Ekegrén Geneva
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Eduard Koehn, German watchmaker
Eduard Koehn was born in Germany in 1839 as the son of Karl Koehn, purveyor to the court of the Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach. From 1859 he studied at the watchmaking school in Geneva. He then started as a simple watchmaker at Patek Philippe in 1861 and was appointed director after 15 years.

In 1891 Edouard Koehn acquired HR Ekegren. The quality awareness that he acquired over the years at Patek Philippe was later reflected in the products he designed and manufactured. In 1892 he improved the retrograde advertisement invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet , Swiss Patent No. 4746.

Koehn was best known for his very flat clocks. The company also supplied watches to Tiffany & Co.. The company made compasses for the British Army during World War I.

Eduard Koehn died in 1908, his son Eduard Koehn Jr. took over the business and continued to run it until 1933.
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Henri Robert Ekegrèn, Danish watchmaker
Henri Robert Ekegrèn was born in Copenhagen in 1823 as the son of the watchmaker Daniel Ekegrèn. He worked for Jules-Frédéric Jürgensen , Henri Golay, Joseph-Thaddeus Winnerl and Adolph Lange before he finally set up his own business in Geneva. In 1857 he founded Ekegren & Westermann together with his business partner Ferdinand Westermann.

In 1862 Westermann left the company, which has since operated as HR Ekegren . Ekegrèn won several gold medals in various world exhibitions and also won the chronometer competition in Geneva several times. He was a famous chronometer maker in Switzerland, and his products were among the finest Geneva watches of the time.

Henri Robert Ekegrèn sold his company to E. Koehn in 1891, but he remained in the company until his death. In his honor, Koehn signed the best watches with HR Ekegren. The company also supplied watches to various other companies such as Tiffany & Co.

Henri-Robert Ekegrèn died in 1896 at the age of 72.