Swiss 18 carat gold and ruby set dress watch Circa 1951

Gold lever watch with floral monogram
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An extremely thin, highly refined dress watch with ruby setting made by Audemars Piguet in Genève, Switzerland, circa 1951. The numbered and open faced case of this watch was crafted from 18 carat gold, has a band, bow and crown completely set with rubies, a floral monogram, probably JE, on the back and English import Hallmarks from 1951. The white enamel dial has an inner ring with black Roman hour numerals, outer minute dots and steel Breguet hands. The numbered top quality movement has a lever escapement, is double punched with the Geneva seal, has 18 jewels and Geneva striping decoration.
Dial signed.
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Diameter: 44 mm
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Weight: 41 g
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Signed: Audemars Piguet Swiss made
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Audemars Piguet & Cie.
 Jules Louis Audemars, born on March 28^th, 1851 and died on October 15^th, 1918 and Edward Auguste Piguet born in 1853 and died in 1919 were two young and ambitious watchmakers who established their workshop in 1875 in their home village Le Brassus, Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. Audemars was in charge of production and technical aspects while Piguet focused on sales and management. Believing in the power of the Vallée de Joux’s network of artisanship and following their firm convictions, they set on crafting unique complicated mechanisms by hand at a time when serial production was looming with the rise of industrialisation. While the two entrepreneurs first produced complicated movements that were sold to Geneva based firms, they soon orchestrated the production of complete watches in the region by coordinating the activities of a variety of craftsmen, buying in blanks, cases, dials, bracelets and sending out pieces for gem setting and decorating. The miniaturisation, design, assembly and setting of movements were then done at Audemars Piguet’s workbenches. The company ledgers demonstrate that nearly 80% of the 1600 watches produced by Audemars Piguet between 1882 and 1892 included at least one, if not several complications. Refined chiming, chronograph and astronomical watches, assembled and finished by hand, have remained the beating heart of Audemars Piguet ever since.