German extremely rare Glashütte repeating pocket watch Circa 1898

Gold hunting cased pocket watch by A. Lange & Söhne
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A very fine, extremely rare Glashütte quarter repeating hunting cased pocket watch with case decoration by Prof. Carl Ludwig Graff – manufactured in quality 1A – , circa 1898. Sold in 1898 for the sum of 1228 Marks, formerly with rating certificate of the observatory Leipzig.
18 carat pink gold “à goutte” case, lavishly engraved with Renaissance motives, according to a layout by Prof. Graff, the back lid with an oval polychrome enamel plaque in the centre with the depiction of Minerva, the goddess of crafts, poetry and wisdom, with gold dome, slide for repeating mechanism and glazed movement. Signed enamel dial with Arabic hours, auxiliary seconds, red outer five-minute divisions and gold Louis XV hands. Nickel-plated 3/4 plate movement with “Geneva striping” decoration, two hammers /  two gongs, screwed gold chatons, gold screw compensation balance, hand-engraved balance cock, index spring fine adjusting device, gold lever and escape wheel and chatoned diamond endstone on balance.
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Diameter: 49 mm
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Weight: 108 g
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Signed: A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte B/Dresden
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Prof. Karl Ludwig Theodor Graff
Prof. Karl Ludwig Theodor Graff, who was appointed director of the Institute of Applied Arts in Dresden (Dresdner Kunstgewerbeschule) in 1875, to create designs in this vein. From the 1880s onwards, more and more ostentatious decorations were created at Lange & Söhne company, where the medallion showed the image of the ancient Roman goddess Minerva, who had been worshipped as goddess of crafts, poetry and wisdom. Professor Graff then copyrighted his design which had won first prize in the Institute of Applied Arts’ 1890 competition for the design and decoration of pocket watch cases.