French/Swiss platinum keyless lever dress watch Circa 1925

Platinum pendant watch by Cartier and European Watch & Clock Co. Inc.
–
A large French/Swiss platinum open faced watch with a contract case, circa 1925. The watch has a nickel-finished 15″ ligne movement with 19 jewels signed by the European Watch & Clock Co., Inc. The white enamel dial bears the signature of Cartier. It features Roman radial hours, an outer minutes track, and blued steel Breguet-style hands. The platinum case has a snap-on blue enamel monogrammed case back and a triangular bow.
–
Diameter: 46 mm
–
Signed: Cartier and European Watch & Clock Co. Inc.
–
The contract case is unsigned, unnumbered, and unmarked. The case shows wear, surface scuffing, and small nicks consistent with age. There are some heavier surface scratches on the case back. The blue monogram has some loss of enamel. The crystal glazing shows some surface scuffing. The dial has been refinished and shows light surface wear and spots throughout. There is some age and patina on the hands. The movement is currently running.
–
The European Watch and Clock Co. Inc. was established in the 1920s as a collaboration between Cartier and Edmond Jaeger of the LeCoultre & Cie watch factory. Cartier worked with various watch movement manufacturers, including Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and Movado, but many of their top products featured movements from the European Watch & Clock Company, which were manufactured at Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Le Sentier factory in Switzerland. The watch cases were made in Paris, Geneva, London, and New York, with each branch responsible for its production. However, the French branch also exported its watches to other stores. In 1930, Jaeger partnered with Jacques-David LeCoultre to form Jaeger-LeCoultre. In the 1920s, Henri Rodanet, the technical director of the Etablissements Ed. Jaeger, developed the Calibre Duoplan, one of the smallest movements with high accuracy.