Important Swiss gold astronomic with sixteen complications Circa 1900

Gold astronomical watch made for the English market
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An extremely fine and important Swiss, possibly unique, 18 Carat gold large, astronomic pocket watch, circa 1900. Watch with sixteen Complications by Audemars Frères, Genève AFG. Made for the English market. Musical, grande and petite sonnerie three train clock watch with perpetual calendar, triple winding, carillon trip minute repeat with three hammers on three gongs, cylinder musical movement playing God Save The King on the hour or at will with four hammers on four gongs, moon phases and lunar calendar.
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A massive, polished case. Hinged gold cuvette. White enamel dial, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary dials for the months and four year cycle, date, days of the week, seconds and moon phase aperture with a lunar calendar. Blued steel spade hands. A frosted gilt movement, 33 jewels, twin barrel differential winding for the going and striking trains, button in the band to engage winding for the musical train, straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, striking the hours and quarters or quarters only and repeating with three hammers on three gongs activated by a trip slide on the band, selection and silence levers protruding from the bezel.
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Musical movement: standing barrel, pinned brass cylinder mounted vertically within the movement, the pins acting against a nest of levers controlling the four hammers and playing on four gongs, playing on the hour or at will, activation lever and silence lever protruding from the cuvette. Case stamped AFG and numbered.
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Diameter: 62 mm
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Signed: Audemars Frères  Genève
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This remarkable and complicated watch having a pinned cylinder musical movement playing with four hammers on four gongs is possibly unique in combining this, together with grande and petite sonnerie, trip minute repeating with three further hammers on three gongs, making a total of seven hammers and gongs, perpetual calendar and moon phase all in one movement. The feature of triple winding from one crown is extremely rare, the going and striking trains are wound in tandem and when a button is pressed in the band it engages a further wheel behind to wind the musical movement. Of course, very few makers were capable of producing such a watch, the most likely being Audemars, J. Albert Piguet and Edouard JeanRichard. Is the case of the present watch is stamped AFG it seems most likely that it was made by Audemars, possibly signifying?Audemars Frères, Genève?. The number 12307 fits with Audemars production for between 1900 and 1910, this watch also uses the rocking bar tandem keyless work invented by Charles Hector Golay and used frequently by Audemars for their complicated watches. J. Albert Piguet was certainly capable of making such a watch but this watch does not compare with his known work. Edouard JeanRichard was very famous for producing watches with carillon and Westminster chimes and he is known to have made watches that played God Save The King, however, JeanRichard’s chiming watches were made in the 1920s, and although he did make ebauches for other companies before he set up his own company in 1915, his work is different in nature to the present watch. It is probable that the watch was made to commemorate the accessions of either King Edward VII in 1901 or King George V in 1910.

The complications: – Perpetual calendar – Day of the month – Days of the week – The months – Four year cycle – Phases and age of the moon – Three hammer carillon – Grande sonnerie – Petite sonnerie – Minute-repeat – Striking train stop work – Twin barrel differential winding – Extra winding mechanism – Music – Strike music on the hour – Strike/silent mechanism