Swiss 18K gold lever with center seconds and linear calendar Circa 1930

White and yellow gold dress watch by Robert Cart SA and Verger Frères
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A fine and rare Swiss 18 carat white and yellow gold open faced center seconds keyless lever dress watch with linear digital triple calendar, a so-called American perpetual calendar, made for Marzo in Paris, France, circa 1930. Rhodium plated movement with Geneva striping decoration, stamped with the hallmark of the Geneva Quality seal, 18 jewels, a straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with eight adjustments, blued steel flat balance spring and an index regulator.
An eccentric oval dial with Breguet hour numerals, an outer minute track with Arabic five minutes, outermost fifth of a second divisions, a linear calendar for the date, days of the week and the months of the year and original blued steel spade hands. The polished case with a yellow gold band, bicolour back and correctors on the band.
Dial signed by the retailer, case punched with the mark of Verger Frères and numbered, movement numbered.
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Diameter: 45 mm
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Signed: Marzo
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Verger Frères was widely known as the jeweller’s jeweller. They created some of the most exceptional jewels, clocks and watches of the Art Deco era supplying many of the most famous jewellery houses of the period. In 1872, Ferdinand Verger (1851- 1928) founded his jewellery business in Paris. He had been apprenticed, just aged 11, to the Parisian watchmaker Lépine. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War he travelled to London, returning in 1871.

In the early days, Verger specialized in ladies’ watches and within a few years had built a reputation that enabled him to become an agent for Vacheron Constantin in 1875. This was to prove a mutually beneficial and enduring relationship which lasted over 60 years with Verger making beautiful cases and jewels set with movements supplied by Vacheron Constantin. Verger registered his maker’s mark in 1896, five years later he acquired the business of his late master Lépine and the firm continued to grow stronger. Verger’s two sons Georges and Henri joined their father in the business and the maker’s mark was changed from F.V. (Ferdinand Verger) to V.F. (Verger Frères).

Under the guidance of Georges and Henri the firm reached new heights and not only employed a vast array of craftsmen directly but developed partnerships with some of the most exceptional artisans of the early 20th century. Georges designed the majority of pieces himself however he was also known to have collaborated with other artists and designers of the period. Alongside their creativity the firm was also a leading innovator in technique and they filed various patents over the years. They were one of only two companies to create the legendary ‘Mystery Clocks’, Cartier being the other.

Verger formally signed over the business to his sons in 1921 by which time they were employing over two hundred specialist craftsmen including goldsmiths, enamellers, engravers, lapidaries, diamond polishers and watchmakers. By employing these artists directly, rather than contracting out the work, Verger Frères were able to keep tight control of the quality of their work. Consequently, they became renowned for the outstanding quality and consistency of their pieces. The firm remained in the Verger family during the 1940s and 1950s, but eventually, the business was bought by Georges Lenfant and more recently it was acquired by Atelier Bouder who have dedicatedly reconstructed the company’s heritage through the extensive archives of drawings and models.
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Robert Louis Cart was born on January 23, 1871, in L’Abbaye, Vaud, Switzerland. He married Juliette Emma Redard ( born in 1878) on June 4, 1900 in La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1920, at the age of 49, Robert Cart founded his workshop in Le Locle. His venture quickly became a success, and in 1935 he received Swiss patent No. 130191 for a complication that would come to be known as the “Wandering hour”, the hour indicator moving around the dial while showing the minutes. In 1948, the company won first prize at the international chronometer competition in Neuchâtel.

Robert Cart SA was based at Beau-Site in Le Locle. The son Robert Cart junior (1902-1978) continued the company. Robert Cart SA also collaborated with Vacheron Constantin in Geneva , Gübelin in Lucerne, Pleissner in Dresden, and Breguet and Gustave Sandoz in Paris. Charlton & Co. in New York also sold jewellery by Cart under their name. In the U.S.A., Robert Cart SA was represented by Dinhofer Bros. Inc.

Within a year after the death of Robert Cart junior in 1978, the company name was acquired by Swiss conglomerate DIXI Machines SA, which had recently sold Zenith to reinvest in watchmaking with Cart, Zodiac and Moser. Robert Louis Cart passed away in 1964.