German 18 carat gold open faced lever watch Circa 1885

Gold Glashütte pocket watch by Julius Assmann
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An 18 carat gold open faced Glashütte pocket watch, circa 1880-1890. The hand wound movement with a lever escapement. White enamel dial with Roman hour numerals, an outer minute track, sunk subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and blued spade & whip hands. A plain case. Dial signed, case and movement with a matching number.
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Diameter: 49 mm
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Weight: 87.5 g
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Signed: J. Assmann Glashütte I/Sachsen
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Julius Assmann was born in 1827 and died in 1886 at the age of 58. He was a passionate watchmaker in Glashütte, Germany. Assmann at one time was employed by his father-in-law, Ferdinand Adolph Lange, the man who laid the cornerstone of the German watchmaking industry in the 1840s. He founded his own company in 1852, the Julius Assmann Deutsche Präzisions-Taschenuhren-Fabrik (German Precision Pocket Watch Factory) producing key wound pocket watches. The German Trade Industry soon awarded Assmann the gold medal. Within two years, his watches progressed to crown winding and the three-quarter plates so characteristic of Glashütte. When he died his company was divided among the Assmann family.