Swiss exceptionally large silver anker chronometer Circa 1895

Silver open faced lever watch
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An exceptionally large anker chronometer made by Couleru-Meuri, successor to Henri Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, circa 1895. The open faced case was crafted from silver, has gold hinges and an engine turned back lid with a monogrammed cartouche in the center. The white enamel dial is signed by the retailer, Karl Beers Inh. Erich Beers Hannover, has Roman hour numerals, outer minute divisions with Arabic 24 hour numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o’clock and gold hands. The movement has a very unusual anker chronometer caliber and an extremely large chronometer balance.
Case and movement bear an identical maker’s mark, the dial and cuvette are respectively signed with the retailer’s and watchmaker’s names.
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Diameter: 65 mm
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Weight: 183 g
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Signed: Couleru-Meuri 1895 Henri Brandt Nachfolger
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Couleru-Meuri
Charles Couleru-Meuri, born in 1851 as Charles-Frédéric, was the successor to the Henri Brandt company and manufactured chronometers in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. He married Maria-Julia Möri and took on the name of Couleru-Meuri. He was a watchmaker located in La Chaux-de-Fonds from 1880 to the 1920s, and his firm was one of the most important manufacturers of complicated watches in the city.

He was active from at least 1880 till bankruptcy in 1899, then continued to be involved in his namesake company under Parisians Hector Lévy and Georges Meyer who used his intellectual property to build the Utinam factory in Besançon. Later, Charles continued with a new firm and invented eight day watches collaborating with L. Sandoz-Vuille of Le Locle.

His son Eugène Couleru founded ‘Montres Octo’ to produce similar watches but faced bankruptcy himself in the economic downturn of the 1920s. The legacy of Couleru-Meuri can be seen in the Besançon watch industry (including a modern Utinam), eight day watches and clocks from Octo, Rode, Octava and the Montbrillant Watch Manufactory building he shared with Breitling in the 1890s.