Swiss ultra-thin pocket watch for the French market Circa 1920

Rare open faced gold pocket watch by Paul Piguet-Capt
–
A Swiss very rare, ultra-thin gentleman’s pocket watch for the French market, circa 1920.
18 carat gold polished case with sharp knife edge band and push back. Solid gold, silvered, engine turned dial with Arabic numerals and blued Breguet hands. Bridge movement, rhodium-plated, signed on the movement under the dial, with Geneva Striping decoration and gold screw compensation balance.
–
Diameter: 47 mm
–
Weight: 36 g
–
Signed: Piguet-Capt, Brassus
–
Paul Piguet-Capt
In 1910, as LeCoultre’s records indicate, a minute repeating movement of 20-ligne could have been bought by 105 CHF. The same movement, but just half the size, was ten times more expensive. Paul Piguet-Capt, the maker of this watch, charged SFr 1150 for a 10-ligne repeater movement. This was when an ounce of gold cost about $20. Using the cost of gold as an indicator, this movement would cost today (wholesale) $86,000. The same cost disparity was with thick versus thin movements. This Lot comes from this group of ultra-small or ultra slim watches which only the best watchmakers were able to make and only the wealthiest were able to afford. This is the reason why the “knife edge” watches we see on antiquarian market mostly signed Cartier – their clients could have afford them.
–
Paul Piguet-Capt, Swiss watch manufacture
The Paul Piguet-Capt company was founded by Paul Justin Louis Piguet in 1890 to Le Brassus. Paul Piguet married Marie Élise Capt on September 25, 1889 in Vallorbe. So the name Piguet-Capt came about and was used in the company name. At first his shop was on the second floor in “Chez Cliba”, a house of the Meylan family, where he sold silver as well as watches. He later moved the business to the center of Le Brassus. In 1825 he moved his studio to a building near the post office, the shop was located between Route de France and Rue du Rocher.
Daughter Henriette Eugénie Piguet (November 19, 1893 – December 12, 1984) was married to the watchmaker Alfred Émile Aubert, a son of Léon-Ernest Aubert. His son Clément Émile Gustave Piguet took over the shop in 1928 but he was an optician. Son-in-law Alfred Émile Aubert took over the watch production. The company existed until 1971.