German 18K yellow gold hunting cased pocket watch Circa 1900

Gold keyless lever by Adolph Lange
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A German 18K yellow gold hunting cased keyless pocket watch, circa 1900. A solid, polished case, hinged gold cuvette, fluted band, engine-turned cover and back. White enamel dial with painted radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, sunk subsidiary seconds dial and blued steel spade hands. Glashütte 3/4-plate, frosted gilt movement, 16 jewels, straight-line Glashütte lever escapement, gold pallet fork and escape wheel, Guillaume balance with gold timing screws, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, hand-engraved balance bridge. Dial, case and movement signed.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Thickness: 15 mm
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Signed: Adolph Lange  Dresden
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Ferdinand Adolph Lange, son of Johann Samuel Lange, was born in Dresden on 25 February 1815. When his parents were separated, he was adopted by a foster family, who luckily offered him a chance at proper education. In 1829, he entered the Technische Bildungsanstalt (technical education institute) of Dresden. The training in the school was accompanied by three days of theoretical studies and the other three days were devoted to manual craftwork with a student’s master. Ferdinand Adolph Lange’s master was Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes (the maker of the famous Five-Minute Clock at Dresden’s Semperoper), who at the time was the second mechanic at the Mathematics and Physics Salon providing an astronomical clock with a mercury compensation pendulum for his service observatory.