Small Swiss 18K gold five-minute repeating watch Circa 1875

HKD 180,000 – 220,000 / EUR 18,000 – 22,000 – Sold: HKD 177,000 / Euro 18,600
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Gold hunting cased keyless pocket watch
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A very fine and extremely rare, small Swiss, five-minute repeating, 18k gold keyless pocket watch with perpetual calendar without month indication, circa 1875.
A polished case, glazed gold-rimmed cuvette. White enamel dial with unusual Arabic numerals over the minute track, subsidiary dials in red for the date, days of the week and seconds. Blued steel spade hands. A rhodium-plated movement, Geneva striping decoration, 29 jewels, counterpoised straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, swanneck micrometre regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a slide on the band. Dial and movement signed.
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Diameter: 42 mm
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Signed: Tiffany & Co.  Geneva
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The present watch, due to its small size, has a very unusual dial in which the numerals are placed over the minute track to allow space for the subsidiary dials. The perpetual calendar is of a very unusual and rare type, the dial only showing the days of the week and the date, with no month indication. In effect, this means that the calendar must be set by a watchmaker and then kept going so that the calendar stays in sequence.
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Tiffany, Genève is founded in 1872, the New York firm is founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany, who opened a branch in Geneva. The aim was to produce watch movements made entirely under one roof but the branch, which specialized in complicated and high-quality pieces, ceased operations in 1879. Patek Philippe took over the management of the factory and then continued to supply Tiffany with watches usually marked on the dial Tiffany & Co.