Swiss silver precision lever marksman’s watch Circa 1898

A very rare silver marksman’s watch
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A very rare silver marksman’s watch, one of the first Eterna watches, made by Schild Frères & Cie. in Grenchen, Switzerland, circa 1898. This watch features an exceptionally beautiful and high quality silver case with an oak leaf wreath with shooting festival motifs on both sides, a high relief with crossed rifles, a crown and eagle on the back and an enamelled inscription: “3. Gara Generale in Torino 1898”. The enamel dial features an outer minute and hour track with Arabic 24 hour numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o’clock and gold time and second hands. The movement is equipped with a precision lever escapement and a fine adjustment.
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Diameter: 52 mm
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Weight: 112 g
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Signed: No name
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3. Gara Generale in Torino 1898

The inscription “3. Gara Generale in Torino 1898” on an early Eterna pocket watch indicates that it was a commemorative Italian marksman’s watch (a shooting prize watch). Translated from Italian, the inscription means “3rd General Competition in Turin, 1898.” It refers to a major national target shooting festival held in Turin, Italy.

“Gara Generale” translates to “General Competition” or “General Match,” which was a large-scale national marksmanship tournament (Tiro a Segno) held in Turin in 1898.

In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, it was highly prestigious for Swiss manufacturers to produce specialized “shooting watches” (Schützenuhr in German). These pocket watches were awarded as official trophies to high ranking marksmen or sold as high end souvenirs to participants of the festival.

Because the Eterna brand name was first registered by Schild Frères & Cie in 1893 and only gradually rolled out, this 1898 piece shown here represents one of the very earliest pocket watches which would be explicitly branded as Eterna rather than Schild later.