Swiss deck watch with 52h power reserve indicator Circa 1925

Silver precision deck watch by Paul Ditisheim
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An impressive Swiss deck watch with a 52-hour power reserve indicator, circa 1925. One of a very small series of the most impressive precision pocket watches ever built.
Sterling silver, polished case with a reeded band and screw back. Inside signed: The highest records at Kew Teddington and Swiss Observatories, 1ère Classe, 332 State Prizes. Signed, matt silvered dial with radial Roman numerals, auxiliary seconds, 52-hour power reserve indicator, and blued spade hands. Chatoned, frosted, gilt 4/5 plate movement with Ditisheim’s movement type I, nine adj., twenty-one jewels, large Guillaume screw compensation balance, sapphire endstone on balance, and a lever and escape wheel. The movement also signed: The highest records at Kew Teddington and Swiss Observatories, 1ère Classe, 332 State Prizes.
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Diameter: 65 mm
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Weight: 296 g
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Signed: Paul Ditisheim, La Chaux de Fonds, Grand Prix Paris 1900
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Movement calibre type I
This type of movement with its calibre designed for stability and highest precision seems to be the one Ditisheim entered in most of the many competitions they took part in (categories ships’ chronometers and pocket chronometers 1stclass, according to the Neuchâtel observatory competition terms). So far 15 watches of this calibre are known. The numbers 701291 and 703266 reached positionings in Neuchâtel in 1924 and 1925, in the ships’ chronometers category. The watches with the movement numbers 703393 (with 24-hour dial), 703446 and 703450, bear the additional signature “Solvil”, showing that they were made after 1925 when Ditisheim had already handed over company management.
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Paul Ditisheim (1868-1945)
He was one of the most famous Swiss makers of watches and chronometers, who did most of his research and his publications in the field of precision timekeeping. He did his apprenticeship at the watchmaking school in La Chaux-de-Fonds, before working in Ponts-de-Martel, Berlin, Paris, and Rotherham (near Coventry). In 1892 he opened up a watchmaking factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He presented his watches in many exhibitions and was very successful in designing pocket chronometers.