French silver and gold lever with automatic winding circa 1900

Silver lever watch with gold details
–
An exceptional French silver and 18 carat gold open faced lever pocket watch with automatic winding made at the Cluses watchmaking school, circa 1900. Bridge movement, a pedometer system with oscillating weight, piston tooth lever escapement and gold screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with Roman hours, outer minute divisions and Arabic five minute numerals, subsidiary seconds at 12 o’clock and spade & whip hands. The plain silver case with gold brackets and hinges.
–
Diameter: 52 mm
–
Weight: 136 g
–
Signed: No name
–
This timepiece is almost certainly the work of a student and was never completed. The period and quality of the movement suggest that the maker of this clock was Achille Hubert Benoit. A high respected watchmaker and teacher at the watchmaking school of Cluses. He had his students make various watches with complications and pocket chronometers inspired by the best watches of the 19th century. Their silver cases all had the same features, in particular a gold pendant and bow, similar in shape to most pendulum watches of the early 20th century. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the only first class automatic watches other than those made by Lange & Söhne were those made by Breguet and L. Leroy et Cie on behalf of their best customers.