Swiss patented repeating watch with chronograph Circa 1895

Gold hunting cased pocket watch by Invicta (Les Fils des R. Picard)
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A fine patented Swiss minute repeating hunting cased pocket watch with chronograph, circa 1895. 14-carat gold, engine turned, à goutte case with pusher for repetition at 6, chronograph pusher at 2, glazed movement and gold dome with engraving. The enamel dial has Arabic numerals, an outer chronograph scale, a centre chronograph hand, auxiliary seconds, and Louis XV hands. 1/2 plate movement, frosted, gilt, with governor for repetition, ground chronograph steel parts, ratchet wheel, two hammers, two gongs and screw compensation balance.
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Diameter: 60 mm
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Weight: 129 g
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Signed: Invicta
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Invicta was founded by Raphaël Picard (1810-1884) in 1837 as R. Picard in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Around 1890, the company was renamed Les Fils de R. Picard; Armand Picard (1856-1926) and Gabriel Picard (1865-1935) were its successors.

1895, Picard won a gold medal in the National Exhibition in Bordeaux. The name Invicta was derived from Latin, translated “invincible”. Picard’s motto was to offer high-quality Swiss watches at affordable prices. In addition to normal pocket watches, the company supplied clocks with striking mechanisms, calendar mechanisms, moon phase displays, and chronographs with movements by Charles-Ami Barbezat-Baillot. In 1896, the brand Invicta was introduced in addition to “Telescope”. In 1906, there were 26 employees at the company, and in 1922, there were 30.

During the First World War, Invicta was active in the production of ammunition with Mirum SA, for example, Zeno, Eigeldinger & Co (34 employees in 1912; 40 in 1922), and the Ebel factory of the Blum family (23 employees in 1912 25 in 1922). The factory was located in Léopold-Robert 109 shortly after 1906 in the new building based on a project by the architect Eugène Schaltbrand. From about 1913, worked closely with the Seeland Watch Co. It was only in the time of quartz watches in the 1970s that watch sales fell so sharply that production had to be discontinued.

In 1991, an American investment company from the United States bought the company run by the Picard family. Since then, Invicta Watch Group’s headquarters have been in Hollywood, Florida.