Swiss remarkable watch with digital time indicator Circa 1900

Pocket watch in a gunmetal finished steel case
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A Swiss remarkable gentleman’s pocket watch in a gunmetal finished steel case with digital time indicator, circa 1900.
Steel gunmetal finished polished case with gold crown, bow and hinge. Enamel dial with window for hours, window for minutes and sunk subsidiary dial for the seconds. Bridge movement, frosted, gilt, monogrammed G.F in an oval, with cylinder escapement and three-arm ring balance.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 134 g
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Signed: Fabriques d’Horlogerie Thommen SA, Waldenbourg
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Société d’Horlogerie à Waldenbourg,
History
The shortest route from the North Sea to the Mediterranean was via Basel, via Ergolztal and Waldenburgertal, over the Oberer Hauenstein pass (734m above sea level) into the Swiss plateau and on to Italy. Already in Roman times this important north-south axis was used extensively by popes, emperors, kings, soldiers and merchants with all kinds of goods. The busy long-distance and local traffic through the Waldenburgertal provided the population, who mainly lived from agriculture, with additional income opportunities. The upcoming construction of the Basel – Liestal – Olten railway line  will bypass the Waldenburgertal and the pass. In the valley they feared loss of earnings, unemployment and the emigration of large groups of the population.
Founding
To counter these abuses, the municipality of Waldenburg founded the watch factory Société d’Horlogerie à Waldenburg in 1853. There were Rohwerke mounted. However, the success did not turn out as hoped. In the first few years of operation, the factory generated a deficit of over 35,400 francs. In order to relieve the municipal treasury, the company was sold in 1859 to the entrepreneur Gédéon Thommen from Waldenburg and the watchmaker Louis Tschopp from Biel. Thommen had been a member of the board of directors since 1857. After the private sector restructuring by Gédéon Thommen, the company began to recover. Tschopp resigned in 1869.
Development
The company has developed over the decades. The owners changed the company name several times. In 1987 the name was changed to Revue Thommen AG “.