Swiss gold lever with quarter seconds diablotine Circa 1865

Gold independent centre seconds lever by Paul Matthey-Doret
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A fine, rare and heavy Swiss 18 Carat yellow gold full hunter cased two train keyless lever pocket watch with independent centre seconds and 1/4th second diablotine, circa 1865. Engine turned case, a button for the seconds and diablotine start/stop at 12 in the reeded band. White enamel dial with radial Roman hours, outer minutes/seconds track with Arabic minute/second numerals, subsidiary quarter second diablotine and Breguet hands. Rhodium plated movement, double train with differential winding.
Signature on the case, dial and movement. The interior of the front cover with engraved dedication.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Signed: Paul Matthey-Doret Locle
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A diablotine or 1/4th  jumping seconds movement of which Lecoultre is the inventor is rare and difficult to execute. The complication refers to the bottom subsidiary dial which jumps forward every quarter of a second when the chronograph or stopwatch is in motion.
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The feature known as a diablotine is a small subsidiary dial on a chronograph or independent centre seconds pocket watch, the hand of which moves in a jumping manner at intervals of 1/4 or 1/5th of a second. The term literally means ‘little devil’. The diablotine is halted when the chronograph or centre seconds is stopped and the fractions of a second can be read.
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Paul Philibert Matthey-Doret was born on April 27th, 1837, in Le Locle. He was the son of Ulysse Matthey-Doret and Adeline Sandoz. Paul married Anna Matthey-Prévôt (1847 – 1907) on November 5th, 1866 in La Sagne. He was based at 1 Rue du Puits in La Chaux-de-Fonds but founded the clock factory ‘La Maisonnette’ in Le Locle. He was an exhibitor at the Neuchâtel Exhibition in 1875, La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1881, the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 and 1881, the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the World Exhibition in Liège in 1905. The company received various prizes or awards at these exhibitions. After he died in 1898, his wife Anna took over the management of the factory. The ‘La Maisonnette’ brand was bought in America by Byron L. Strassburger & Co, New York. From 1920 ‘La Maisonnette’ was listed for America by Maurice Woog (1851-1938).