Swiss 18k gold open faced lever dress watch Circa 1940

Gold keyless lever watch by Audemars Piguet
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A very fine, elegant, and thin Swiss 18 carat gold open faced keyless lever dress watch, circa 1940. This watch features a mechanical movement with 19 jewels and a lever escapement. It has a silvered matte dial with applied Arabic hour markers and dot indexes, outer minute dots, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock, and baton hands. The plain 18k yellow gold brushed case has a snap-on case back. The case, dial, and movement are signed Audemars Piguet Genève.
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Diameter: 42 mm
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Signed: Audemars, Piguet Genève
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The case is in good condition, with surface scratches and wear throughout. The dial is in very good condition, with superficial scratches on the indexes and hands. There are some losses and discoloration to the outer perimeter of the case, but these are not noticeable when the case is on. The movement is running.
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Audemars Piguet & Cie. Jules Louis Audemars, born on March 28th, 1851 and died on October 15th, 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.