Swiss nickel watch with digital time indication Circa 1890

Nickel open faced lever pocket watch 
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A rare Swiss nickel open faced gentleman’s keyless pocket watch with jumping hours and minutes after Kaiser’s patented system, circa 1890. The tiered case is polished. The signed white enamel dial has an aperture for digital hours and minutes, and subsidiary seconds below. The signed frosted gilt bridge movement is fitted with a counterpoised lever escapement, screw compensation balance and blued balance spring.
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Diameter: 52 mm
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Weight: 124 g
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Signed: Systéme A. Kaiser Breveté
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Alexander Kaiser
Alexander Kaiser was based in Fribourg, Switzerland. He was a watchmaker and inventor, primarily known for his contribution to early digital pocket watches. On December 19th, 1883, he received German patent No. 27626 from the Kaiserliches Patentamt in Berlin for a counting wheel or gear mechanism designed for timepieces. This system used rotating discs to display hours and minutes through small apertures on the dial, a style often referred to as a “mechanical digital” or “jumping numeral” display. Kaiser was active in the late 19th century and, like most independent Swiss watch workshops of that era, his operations eventually came to an end as the sector shifted to large scale industrial production.
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The manufacturer of the present watch is unknown. Some well known Kaiser watches have the same board cut as the pieces of Aeby & Landry.