Swiss gold hunting cased keyless pocket watch Circa 1866

Gold lever pocket watch
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A very fine and very rare Swiss 18K gold, hunting cased pocket watch, circa 1866. Keyless cover winding patented by Chs, Rubens & Co. Chaux-de-Fonds, the case by Emile Perret, Locle. An engine-turned, reeded band, gold hinged cuvette. White enamel dial, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds, blued steel Breguet hands.

Movement with Geneva striping decoration, 17 jewels, the barrel secured with serpentine bridge, counterpoised straight-line lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance with gold temperature and meantime adjustment screws, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, patented winding mechanism by closing the cover which transmits the power via a lever to a ratchet wheel on the barrel arbour, a safety device disengaging the mechanism when fully wound, knurled wheel for hand-setting in the crown engaged by pulling out. Cuvette and movement signed, case signed by Perret, dial inscribed Patented 1866.
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Diameter: 52 mm
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Signed: Chs. Rubens & Co.  Chaux de Fonds
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The patent for this type of self-winding watch was originally taken out by T. Robert Theurer in the U.S. and was assigned to Charles Rubens & Cie after this date. This patent for keyless cover winding pre-dates Benjamin Haas’s patent of 1873.