Swiss silver full hunter minute repeating pocket watch Circa 1900

Silver hunting cased keyless lever watch
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A fine, heavy Swiss silver full hunter pocket watch with minute repetition made by Ch. Suchy & Fils, circa 1900. It has a high grade mechanical crown winding nickel lever movement with decorative circular graining and damaskeening polishing under an inner glass exhibition cover. It includes a compensation balance with a Breguet hairspring and an integrated minute repeating mechanism that strikes the hours, quarters, and minutes on two internal steel gongs. The inner cuvette is signed Ch. Suchy & Fils. The white enamel dial shows black Roman numerals for the hours, a fine outer minute track with Arabic five minute indicators, a subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o’clock, and ornate pink gold Louis XV style hands.
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The timepiece is housed in a substantial, heavy, round, three body solid silver full hunter case with gold hinges and an à goutte closure. It has a spring hinged front cover engraved with an elaborate interlocking decorative monogram, a smooth plain polished reverse back cover, a fluted rose gold winding crown with an integrated repetition triggering button, and a sturdy round suspension bow.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Weight: 152 g
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Signed: Ch. Suchy & Fils
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Carl Suchy & Söhne (trademarked in French as Ch. Suchy & Fils for international luxury markets) was a prestigious watchmaking firm appointed official purveyors to the Austrian Imperial Court (K.u.K. Hoflieferant). Founded by Carl Suchy in Prague and later expanded to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, by his sons, the manufacture specialized in exceptionally high grade complicated timepieces. Minute repeaters of this calibre, which audibly strike the exact time down to the minute on demand, represented the pinnacle of mechanical luxury around 1900. To preserve and display the beautifully finished nickel movement while protecting it from dust during demonstration, these elite pocket watches were fitted with a transparent inner glass crystal cover beneath the silver case back.