Swiss heavy gold complicated repeating chronograph Circa 1900

Astronomic hunting cased pocket watch attributed to Louis Elisée Piguet
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An important, large and very heavy Swiss minute repeating Grande Complication with perpetual calendar, moon phase, split-seconds chronograph, 30-minute counter and Carillon quarter repeating mechanism Grande Sonnerie, circa 1900. Accompanied by the original box. Bridge movement, three hammers / three gongs, Patent No. 6835, gold screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with radial Roman numerals, outer minutes/seconds track with five-minutes/seconds Arabic numerals, four subsidiary dials for days of the week, date, months concentric with leap-year cycle and 30-minute counter, aperture at 6 o’clock for phases of the moon with constant seconds, split seconds hands, and black steel spade hands. Polished 18-carat gold case, case maker’s punch mark J&Co., glazed movement.
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Diameter: 64 mm
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Weight: 271 g
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Signed: No name, attributed to Louis Elisée Piguet, Le Locle
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This Grande Complication has an impressive weight of 271 g and a diameter of 64 mm; it is over 25 mm high. The condition of the case, the dial and the movement are excellent, and the quality of the perfectly mirror-polished and bevelled steel levers is outstanding. The two barrels are wound through a racking bar. For the minute repeater and the quarter hour strike Grande Sonnerie, the hammers strike on three different gongs and produce the so-called carillon sound. This is a rare and sophisticated detail even for a Grande Complication; the mechanism was constructed after a patent by César Racine, who specialized in this type of complication and was awarded a Médaille d’Or for it at the Exposition Nationale Suisse in 1896. The impressive mahogany case is covered with silver leaf and has a sophisticated hidden mechanism with an inclined plane, which permits the wearer to activate the repeater by pressing a fine enamel painting of a huntsman with hounds on the outside, which in turn applies pressure on the side pusher of the watch. This means that the repeater could be activated at any time, even when the case was closed, a very practical aspect during the night! This extremely rare and marvellous piece has been in the property of a family until now.