Heavy Swiss 14K gold minute repeater with day and date Circa 1900

Gold watch with five complications
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A heavy and rare Swiss 14 carat gold hunting cased minute repeating chronograph lever pocket watch with jumping 30 minute counter, and day and date indication made for the German market, circa 1900.

The sunray case of this watch, of which each lid is made of 14 carat gold, adds to the watch’s weight and prestige. The front opens by depressing the button on the pendant. The original gilt enamel dial is in excellent condition, has Breguet hour numerals, an outer minute track with Arabic five minutes, outermost 24 hours, three subsidiary dials for the date with a concentric 30 minute counter at 3 o’clock, the days of the week at 12 and auxiliary seconds at 9, and gold Louis XIV hands.

The Swiss lever escapement with a cut bimetallic compensation balance. The minute repeater function allows the wearer to chime the time at will, while the chronograph function allows precise timekeeping during events or races.
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Diameter: 58 mm
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Weight: 148 g
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Signed: Barbezat-Bôle Le Locle
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H. Barbezat-Bôle was located on Rue du France 1 and 5 in Le Locle by 1886. The company was known for complicated pocket watches, especially repeaters, and grand sonneries. H. Barbezat-Bôle had a patented design for a minute repeater with four hammers (Brevet 11948) and also produced carillons with Westminster chimes. By 1908, H. Barbezat-Bôle was also producing ultra-thin watches, and these signature products would continue until the Depression. By 1916 the company had relocated to Rue de la Côte.
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In 1923, H. Barbezat-Bôle won four best chronometer prizes at the Centenaire Breguet for serially-produced watches. By then H. Barbezat-Bôle had also opened a showroom in New York at 105 West 40th St. H. Barbezat-Bôle merged with another high-end Le Locle watchmaker, Paul Buhré, in 1928. The combined company was a leader in complicated watchmaking in the town through the 1940s as Paul Buhré et H. Barbezat-Bôle S.A. with offices on Rue Beau-Site next to the Tissot factory. The H. Barbezat-Bôle brand was not used after World War II, however, and the firm became simply Manufacture des Montres Paul Buhré S.A.
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Reference 0030000