Swiss gold lever one-minute tourbillon watch Circa 1858

Gold hunting cased lever watch
–
A very fine and important Swiss, early, thin, 18K gold hunting cased pocket watch with one-minute tourbillon regulator of unusual layout and straight-line lever escapement in a leather-covered fitted box, circa 1858-1859. Accompanied by crank lever key. The case with Chester hallmarks. Engine turned, foliate and florally engraved, chased band, pendant and bow. Hinged gold-rimmed glazed cuvette.

Silver dial, engine-turned and foliate engraved, with applied Gothic radial Roman numerals, varicoloured gold foliate decoration and subsidiary seconds. Gold Louis XV hands. Frosted gilt, the calibre with the top bridge forming the initial G for Guinand, 15 jewels, polished steel early Guinand carriage with straight-line lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator. The bridge in the shape of a letter G for Guinand numbered on the pillar plate.
–
Diameter: 53 mm
–
Signed: Ernest Guinand Locle
–
Ernest Guinand (c.1810-1879) The most eminent of Swiss tourbillon makers of the period, he rarely signed his watches. They were sold to établisseurs who signed them and in turn sold them to their clients. The signature takes the form of the shape of the bridge, which forms the letter G. The present watch is also rare because it features a straight-line lever escapement. Guinand generally used a lateral lever escapement, if he used a lever escapement at all. Guinand, from Le Locle, who, along with Auguste Grether from Ponts-de-Martel 1817-1879, specialized in the production of tourbillon carriages. Guinand must have begun tourbillon making in the 1850s or early 1860s, meaning that the present watch is very early in his output. In 1864 Patek Philippe chose him to build their first tourbillon regulator. Ernest Guinand designed at least three models of the tourbillon carriage, based on an A-shaped frame. He worked for several important makers, including Girard-Perregaux, Patek Philippe, Montandon, and many others. He used the pivoted detent escapement, very rarely the spring detent, sometimes the lateral lever escapement, and apparently extremely few straight-line lever escapements, as in the present watch.