Fine Swiss sterling silver Masonic triangle form watch Circa 1900
- Kenmerk
- DB0579
- Diameter
- -
- Estimate
- € 1.750 - 3.500
- Price sold
- € 2.100
Sterling silver Freemason’s watch
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A rare Swiss sterling silver Masonic lever triangle form watch, circa 1900. The bridge movement after Swiss patent No. 34864 with a lever escapement and monometallic screw balance. A movement protection cap. Mother-of-pearl dial with multicoloured Masonic symbols for the numerals, an outer minute track with Arabic 20, 40 and 60, the motto Love Your Fellow Man Lend Him A Helping Hand in the lower half. The case with cast and engraved ornaments, a crowning blue paste stone on the front, a hinged back with a central depiction of Solomon’s Temple surrounded by Freemason symbols and the letters GBJ. Case signed and numbered, movement signed. Comes with the original presentation box.
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Dimensions: 54 x 52 mm
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Weight: 55 g
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Signed: Solvil Watch Co Swiss – Schwab-Loeillet Genève Suisse
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Schwab-Loeillet was located at 22 Rue du Mont-Blanc in Geneva and listed until the late 1920s. It was first mentioned in 1887 as Loeillet & Schwab (LS). In 1888, the company’s name was changed to Schwab & Loeillet.
Théophile Schwab-Loeillet patented a Masonic watch design on February 3rd, 1925, under the name Tempor Watch Co (US patent No. 66542, English patent No. 713821, Swiss patent No. 25265, 34864 and 36889). In 1930, the company was listed as “Schwab & Brandt, formerly Schwab-Loeillet, the only makers of Masonic watches”. They modified the 1925 design, introducing triangular, high quality movements and making the watch much slimmer.
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Paul Ditisheim was born in 1868 in La Chaux-de-Fonds the historic birthplace of the watchmaking industry, into the small social circle of industrialist families that led the Swiss watch industry of the time. He was a member of the well known Ditisheim family, the founders and owners of Vulcain. A watch brand enjoyed by American presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
Paul did his apprenticeship at the watchmaking school in La Chaux-de-Fonds, before working in Ponts-de-Martel, Berlin, Paris and Rotherham near Coventry. He worked at his family’s company until 1892 when he opened his own workshop and founded the brands Solvil of which the timepieces were often signed Paul Ditisheim and Titus of which the watches were generally marked separately.
Ditisheim was one of the most famous makers of watches and chronometers, who did most of his research and his publications in the field of precision timekeeping. He also worked closely with Physics Nobel prize winner Charles-Edouard Guillaume and has been considered the father of modern chronometers. He presented his watches in many exhibitions. Paul Ditisheim died in 1945, leaving a legacy of technical excellence and design that has renewed the reputation of Swiss Made.
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Freemasonry or Masonry is a worldwide spread and regionally structured fellowship that strives for spiritual and moral elevation, mutual appreciation and helping each other. It is a society with rituals. Its members are called Freemasons or Masons. They address each other as brother or sister. Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients.
Signed: Solvil Watch Co Swiss – Schwab-Loeillet Genève Suisse
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