French 18K gold split second chronograph watch Circa 1860

Gold keyless open faced pocket chronograph by Pierre Giteau
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A French 18 carat yellow gold keyless open faced split second chronograph watch, circa 1860. The mechanical movement features a column wheel, decorative false dimensions, and a verge escapement. The signed white enamel dial showcases Breguet numerals, an outer minutes/seconds track with red Arabic markers for fifteen minute increments, and two subsidiary dials for seconds and a 60 minute register. It also includes split seconds chronograph hands and pear shaped hour and minute hands. This timepiece is housed in a basin case with a smooth reverse that is monogrammed with CG on the inside. It has a pusher located at the 11 o’clock position to activate the split seconds chronograph. The cuvette is signed: GITEAU, Élève de Breguet, Ancien Horloger du Roy, 31 Rue de la Pépinière, Paris.

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Diameter: 48 mm.
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Weight: 77.5 g
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Signed: Giteau Paris
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Pierre Giteau, an apprentice (élève) of the legendary Abraham-Louis Breguet, worked as a watchmaker in Paris from around 1811 to 1870. Appointed Horloger breveté du Roi (Watchmaker to the King), he produced both small and large clocks, as well as finely crafted pocket watches signed Giteau, Élève de Breguet.
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In the 1811 Almanach du commerce de Paris, des départemens de l’Empire français et des principales Villes du Monde, Giteau is recorded at 5 Rue St. Nicaise. By 1816, according to the Almanach des 25,000 adresses de Paris, he had moved to the Palais Royal, Galerie des Pierres No. 129, and was later listed at Palais Royal No. 114. Eventually, he established himself at the Palais Royal, Galerie de Valois, Nos. 140 and 2498.
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An unusual episode in his career was reported in the Paris Gazette des Tribunaux on January 21 and 22, 1839: a valuable gold watch belonging to Giteau was stolen and later recovered in a house of prostitution. The perpetrator, Louise-Augustine Radiguet, was arrested by Police Commissioner Marrigues.
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Provenance:
From the collection of Doctor Charles Guebel (born Paris, 1886), the sole owner of this watch. Director of the Paris Dental School, Dr. Guebel, was a pioneer in introducing a new technique of local anaesthesia. A noted gastronome and friend of culinary figures Curnonsky and Édouard de Pomiane, he founded the Chaine des Rôtisseurs in 1950—an international association of gastronomes that counted numerous personalities and crowned heads among its members.
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This 18 carat gold, manual winding split seconds pocket watch by Giteau, pupil of Breguet, remained in his possession throughout his life.