Swiss silver watch with digital time indication Circa 1890

Silver open faced lever pocket watch 
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A rare pocket watch with jumping hours and minutes after Kaiser’s patented system, made in Switzerland, circa 1890. The numbered high quality solid case of this watch was crafted from silver and has a screw down crown. The two tone enamel dial features apertures for digital hours and minutes, analogue subsidiary seconds below, polychrome enamel decoration to the right and left, and is marked patent. The numbered movement is equipped with a lever escapement and reads Système Breveté.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Weight: 120 g
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Signed: No name
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Alexander Kaiser
Alexander Kaiser was based in Fribourg, Switzerland. He was a watchmaker and inventor, primarily known for his contribution to early digital pocket watches. On December 19th, 1883, he received German patent No. 27626 from the Kaiserliches Patentamt in Berlin for a counting wheel or gear mechanism designed for timepieces. This system used rotating discs to display hours and minutes through small apertures on the dial, a style often referred to as a “mechanical digital” or “jumping numeral” display. Kaiser was active in the late 19th century and, like most independent Swiss watch workshops of that era, his operations eventually came to an end as the sector shifted to large scale industrial production.