Swiss gunmetal digital keyless pocket watch Circa 1900

Gunmetal Pallweber watch
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A Swiss gunmetal and gold open faced digital keyless pocket watch after Pallweber’s Patent for digital jump hours and minutes, circa 1900. The case with a gold bezel and bow, and a glazed gold rimmed cuvette. White enamel dial with floral polychrome enamel decoration, apertures for the hours and minutes, and subsidiary seconds below. A gilt brass movement with 15 jewels, a straight line lever escapement, notched bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring and an index regulator. Dial and movement signed.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Signed: Manufacture de Cortébert
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The case is slightly scratched and the dial has some decorations of hairlines.
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Cortébert Watch Co. was originally founded in Sonvilier by Adam-Louis Juillard as Raiguel Juillard et Cie. in 1790 to produce rough movements. In 1876, the company moved to Cortébert and was renamed Cortébert Watch Co. to reflect its new location. Around 1890, the company started producing complete pocket and wristwatches. In 1927, the company became affiliated with Ébauches SA. Abraham-Louis was the father of Lucien Juillard (1803-1868).
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Josef Pallweber was an Austrian engineer from Salzburg. His registered residence changed several times within the German Empire, from Furtwangen via Frankfurt am Main to Mannheim. The company name, Josef Pallweber & Sohn, was also known in Austria. He is considered the inventor of watches with jumping numerals, also called Pallweber watches, for which he filed a patent in Salzburg in 1883 at age 25.

Pallweber invented the digital time display showing jump hours and minutes for pocket watches with numbers on rotating discs next to the classic hands. Digits indicating the correct hour and minutes were revealed through two apertures on the dial, the seconds were still shown through a small hand on a subsidiary dial.

In the late 19th century, many watch manufacturers had the so-called jump hour watches in their range, among them renowned makers such as A. Lange & Söhne in Glashütte, Germany. However, one of the most prolific producers of this type of watch was the International Watch Company Schaffhausen (IWC).

After granting his patent to the International Watch Company Schaffhausen, Josef Pallweber subsequently licensed his mechanism to display the time in a digital format to other Swiss watch companies, such as Cortébert and Gédéon Thommen, for the French and Belgian markets.