Swiss gold full hunting cased watch with cylinder movement Circa 1905

One of the smallest watches ever made by Girard-Perregaux
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A very small gold full hunting cased watch made for the purveyor to the court Ludwig Simon in Berlin by Girard-Perregaux in la Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, circa 1905. This watch has a plain 14 Carat red gold case with the Girard-Perregaux hallmark, a signed enamel dial with red gold hands and an also signed movement with a fine cylinder escapement.
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Diameter: 24.5 mm
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Weight: 15 g
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Signed: Ludwig Simon, Berlin
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In 1902 Ludwig Simon founded a watch and jewellery business in Berlin. During the imperial period, Ludwig Simon supplied the royal house of Romania and was therefore appointed purveyor to His Majesty the King of Romania.

Girard-Perregaux SA is a luxury Swiss watch manufacturer with its origins dating back to 1791. In 2022, the management of Girard-Perregaux completed a management buyout from the French luxury group Kering. Headquartered in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, the company opened the Girard-Perregaux Museum near its headquarters in Villa Marguerite in 1999. It is best known for the historic Tourbillon with three gold bridges, which was awarded a gold medal at the 1889 International Exposition in Paris soon after the launch of the watch. Other notable models from the company include the collection 1966, Vintage 1945, and models such as Tri Axial Tourbillon and Laureato, an icon inspired by the 70’s.

In 1791 watchmaker and goldsmith Jean-François Bautte signed his first watches. He created a manufacturing company in Geneva, grouping for the first time ever all the watchmaking facets of that time. This included the engineering of the watch all the way to the final hand assembly and hand polishing of each piece. In 1832, Jacques Bautte and Jean-Samuel Rossel succeeded Jean Bautte, becoming the head of the company. In 1852, the watchmaker Constant Girard founded Girard & Cie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. He then married Marie Perregaux in 1854 and the Girard-Perregaux Manufacture was founded in 1856. In 1906, Constant Girard-Gallet, who took over control of the Manufacture from his father, acquired the Bautte House and merged it with Girard-Perregaux & Cie.