Swiss minute repeating calendar watch with chronograph Circa 1910
- Kenmerk
- AS1735
- Diameter
- 53 mm
- Estimate
- € 15.000 - 30.000
- Price sold
- € 30.700
Gold, enamel, diamond, ruby, and emerald-set watch by West End Watch Co.
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A Swiss gold, enamel, diamond, ruby, and emerald-set half-hunting cased minute repeating chronograph watch with calendar and moon phases, circa 1910. The watch features a jewelled lever movement with steel hammers that repeat on coiled gongs. It has a white enamel dial, signed by West End Watch Co., Extra, with Roman numerals, subsidiary dials for constant seconds and date indication, and apertures for day, month, and moon phases. The 18k gold case is adorned with translucent green and blue enamel, cabochon rubies and emeralds, and a translucent pink enamel chapter ring with rose-cut diamonds and blue Roman numerals. Additionally, it has a polychrome enamel panel depicting three females bathing in a river with a tiger in the background, surrounded by rose-cut diamonds. The watch is stamped with a W within a star and numbered G441286 5. It also features a gold cuvette.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Signed: West End Watch Co.
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The dial is in good condition, but the case has some scratches on the enamel and scuffs on the gold. There is a rose-cut diamond missing from the case back. The movement is running, the chronograph is functioning, and the day, date, and month are advancing. However, the moon phases are not advancing.
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The West End Watch Company was established in 1886 by Arnold Amstutz and Constant Droz, who were the owners of the firm Alcide Droz & Sons at the time. The company was located in Saint-Imier (Canton of Bern).
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Inspired by the London district of the West End, Arnold Charpié, who was working as a representative for Alcide Droz & Sons in Bombay, named the company.
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In 1886, Amstutz and Droz started selling watches under the brand name West End Watch Company in the Indian market and also developed the first waterproof pocket watch ever produced: L’Impermeable. One of these pocket watches is now exhibited at the Musée International d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
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During the First World War, the West End Watch Company provided West End watches to British and Indian soldiers who were sent from Bombay to the Persian Gulf and on to Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).
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In 1917, the West End Watch Company changed its name to Société des Montres West End SA and relocated its headquarters to Geneva. In the same year, the company registered the Sowar brand name. In 1934, Société des Montres West End SA became the first company to use Incabloc shock protection.
Signed: West End Watch Co.
























