Swiss 18 Carat white gold tonneau shaped pendant watch Circa 1920

White gold, diamond, pearl and onyx pendant watch
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A fine Swiss 18 Carat white gold, diamond and onyx, tonneau shaped and Art Deco pendant watch, circa 1920. With matching onyx and pearl chain. Accompanied by the original fitted box. The oval bezel diamond set, an onyx reeded band with an outer diamond set border. Silver dial with painted radial Arabic numerals and blued steel Breguet hands. Movement with 16 jewels, straight line lever escapement, cut bi metallic balance adjusted to four positions, blued steel flat balance spring.
Dial and movement signed.
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Dimensions: 42 x 30 mm
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Signed: Paul Ditisheim Solvil  Swiss
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The dial is slightly worn.
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Solvil, Swiss watch manufacture
In 1892, Paul Ditisheim opened a watch factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He took part in many exhibitions with his watches and successfully constructed pocket chronometers, mostly with lever escapements. Among other things, he developed a marine chronometer with an exchangeable escapement system. His tested chronometers ( marine chronometers, pocket chronometers/deck watches ) won numerous first prizes in competitions at the observatory in Neuchâtel, England and the US Navy test series.
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With Charles Edouard Guillaume, he worked on developing and testing temperature independent metal alloys.
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Paul Ditisheim launched the brand name Solvil around 1920, intending to establish a modern and precise pocket watch with the annular balance wheel with additional compensation (balancer à affixes) that he had developed and patented in 1921. In 1924 the company was converted into a stock corporation.
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In 1925, Ditisheim separated from the AG because of significant differences. For reasons of profitability, the AG wanted to produce simple and inexpensive clocks in large numbers and phased out the production of Ditisheim ‘s precision clocks and marine chronometers. However, this did not correspond to the ideas of Ditisheim. The Solvil company continued to use Paul Ditisheim ‘s famous name for advertising purposes, which Ditisheim tried to prevent several times without success. The company later operated under the name ” Solvil & Titus SA ” and mainly manufactured normal wristwatches, most of which were exported to the USA. 1969″ Solvil & Titus SA ” was taken over by the Neuchâtel holding ” Societe des Garde-Temps SA “.
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Around 1990, the Stelux group of companies bought the Solvil & Titus brand.