Swiss repeating pocket watch with art nouveau hour markers Circa 1900

Rose gold open faced pocket watch by Patek Philippe & Co.
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A distinguished gentleman’s Geneva minute repeating pocket watch with art nouveau hour markers, original box and Patek Philippe, extract from the archives, circa 1900. Made for the Bohm-Bristol Co. in Denver, Colorado and sold to Colorado’s most prominent and wealthiest families on November 20th, 1900.
18-Carat rose gold case with engraved monogram CKB and a gold dome with presentation engraving: Given to Claude K. Boettcher by his wife December 1900. Signed silvered dial with art nouveau hour markers for hours, outer minutes track, subsidiary dial for the seconds, and blued Louis XV hands. Bridge movement, rhodium-plated, Geneva Stripes decoration, and gold screw compensation balance.
This remarkable timepiece has a fascinating and extravagantly ornate, and unusual engraving on the dial. The combination of the dial and the exquisitely blued Louis XV hands gives this watch a particularly charming and meaningful art nouveau face.
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Diameter: 46 mm
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Weight: 83 g
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Signed: Patek Philippe & Co. Genève
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The Boettcher Family
The Boettcher’s are one of the most prominent families in the history of Colorado. Claudius Kedzie Boettcher was born in Boulder and the only son of Charles and Fannie (Cowan) Boettcher. His father had at the time just opened his hardware store in the town of Boulder – it still bears the name C. Boettcher & Company above the main entrance today. The business prospered, and Charles was a born entrepreneur who was always looking for new opportunities. A silver boom in Leadville inspired him to move his company and the family there. His store flourished, and Charles was soon the owner of many hardware businesses; he began spreading his investments further and became involved in banking circles. When he observed the success of the sugar beet industry in his native Germany, Charles decided to build sugar manufactures in Colorado to take advantage of this growing industry. His son Claude was among the new-formed Great Western Sugar Company partners. In time the family branched out to other fields such as cement production, and they eventually became one of Colorado’s most important and wealthiest families.
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Claude K. Boettcher (1875-1957)
Claude K. Boettcher was a second-generation member of the prominent family settling and prospered in Colorado. He was educated at Dr Holbrook’s Military School in New York and Harvard, where he studied to become an engineer. Claude returned to Denver afterwards to become involved in his father’s enterprises. In 1890, he married De Allan McMurtrie, and the couple had a son Charles later in the same year. Claude K. Boettcher was an active philanthropist and the driving force behind the establishment of the Boettcher Foundation in 1937; he also donated heavily to the Boettcher School for Crippled Children and the Children’s hospital. Claude was a very generous man who felt that a family as fortunate and wealthy as his should give something back to the community and those in need.