Swiss 18 Carat gold watch with very rare striking train Circa 1915

Pocket watch Carillon with four hammer minute repeater
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An extremely heavy gold full hunter cased watch with very rare striking train, Carillon with four hammer minute repeater, made by Henri Barbezat Bôle in le Locle, Switzerland, circa 1915. The plain case of this full hunter cased watch is crafted from 18 Carat gold and the white enamel dial has Arabic hour numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial also with Arabic numerals and blued steel hands. The glazed movement has a very fine Swiss precision lever escapement according a Constant Piguet patent, a minute repeater with carillon strike, four hammers, 31 jewels and five adjustments.
The movement is signed.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Weight: 144 g
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Signed: H. Barbezat Bôle, Le Locle
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These watches are extremely rare and desired collector’s items. The manufacturer was mainly Henry Barbezat Bôle in Le Locle. He delivered these watches to the “Goldsmith & Silversmith Company” in London. 

Constant Piguet and H. Barbezat-Bôle never entered into a formal business partnership. Instead, their relationship was strictly transactional and based on patent licensing:

–  The Patent Transaction: In 1896, Henri Barbezat-Bôle officially acquired Swiss patent No. 11948 from Constant Piguet (who was based in Le Sentier, Vallée de Joux).

–  The Invention: The patent was for a specialized mechanical movement: a chiming repeater watch utilizing four hammers on four gongs, capable of playing chimes like the Westminster quarter.

The Outcome: Following this transaction, Barbezat-Bôle published announcements informing the public that he had legally purchased the patent from Piguet and would prosecute any subsequent infringements. Barbezat-Bôle’s firm went on to manufacture these high end, highly complicated carillon pocket watches independently using Piguet’s design framework, but the two men maintained separate horological entities.
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Henri-Ernest Barbezat-Bôle
Henri Barbezat-Bôle (1851-1921), the younger brother of Charles Barbezat-Baillot, officially established his independent watchmakingworkshop in Le Locle, Switzerland, around 1875. By 1886, the historical records locate his thriving workshop at 1 and 5 Rue de France in Le Locle. It operated at its original location until after Henri Barbezat-Bôle’s death, when his son, Paul Barbezat, moved the corporate headquarters to 6 Rue de la Côte in the same town.
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Constant Piguet
In 1896 Constant Piguet was listed as a gong maker in Le Sentier in the canton of Vaud, making carillon repeating watches with four hammers. On March 20, 1896, Constant Piguet patented this system of minute repeat with the carillon, under the Swiss patent No. 11948. These watches are those for which he is best known today and bear his patent number on the movement.