Swiss 18K gold jumping seconds chronograph Circa 1860

Gold technically complicated full hunter 
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A technically complicated and heavy gold hunting cased jumping seconds chronograph pocket watch made by Paul Henry Matthey in Le Locle, Switzerland, circa 1860. The numbered case of this watch was crafted from 18 carat gold, is engine turned on both sides and has a start and stop button in the band. The white enamel dial has Roman hours, outer minute divisions, Arabic five minute numerals and an outermost fifth of a second track, so-called foudroyante indication at 6 o’clock and steel moon hands. The numbered movement has an early precision lever escapement and a rare winding for independent seconds.
Case and movement have matching numbers, the dial, cuvette and movement are signed.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Weight: 140 g
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Signed: Paul H^ri Matthey Locle
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This is an extremely high quality and early version of an independently driven chronograph. With this watch, time measurements with an accuracy of one fifth of a second were possible.
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Seconde foudroyante dates from at least the 1870s and was developed for the precise timing of sporting events, especially horse racing. ‘Foudre’ is French for ‘lightning’, which is the preferred name in English, along with jumping seconds.

Seconde foudroyante is a hand which completes one full revolution per second. Most watches feature a seconds hand which rotates for one minute. A foudroyante hand, in contrast, has a period of one second. Watches equipped with such a hand typically also feature a conventional seconds hand. The foudroyante hand can be central or in a subdial and can be used for timekeeping or as part of a chronograph. On a chronograph, a hand that makes one rotation every second, pauses four, five or even eight times to indicate quarters, fifths or eighths of a second.