Rare Swiss gold minute repeating keyless pocket watch Circa 1925

Gold lever by Audemars Piguet
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A fine and rare Swiss 18 carat gold minute repeating keyless pocket watch, circa 1925.
A polished case, hinged gold cuvette. Silver dial with black Arabic numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds and blued steel Breguet hands. Rhodium-plated movement, Geneva striping decoration, 30 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, swan neck regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a slide on the band. Dial, cuvette and movement signed.
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Diameter: 46 mm
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Thickness: 9 mm
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Signed: Audemars Piguet  Brassus & Genève
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A similar example of an Audemars Piguet minute repeating pocket watch is illustrated in Audemars Piguet by Gisbert L. Brunner, Christian Pfeiffer-Belli, Martin K. Wehrli, first edition.
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Audemars Piguet & Cie. Jules Louis Audemars, born on March 28th, 1851 and died on October 15th, 1918 and Edward Auguste Piguet born in 1853 and died in-1919 were two young and ambitious watchmakers who established their workshop in 1875 in their home village Le Brassus, Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. Audemars was in charge of production and technical aspects while Piguet focused on sales and management. Believing in the power of the Vallée de Joux’s network of artisanship and following their firm convictions, they set on crafting unique complicated mechanisms by hand at a time when serial production was looming with the rise of industrialisation.
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While the two entrepreneurs first produced complicated movements that were sold to Geneva-based firms, they soon orchestrated the production of complete watches in the region by coordinating the activities of a variety of craftsmen, buying in blanks, cases, dials, bracelets and sending out pieces for gem-setting and decorating. The miniaturisation, design, assembly and setting of movements were then done at Audemars Piguet’s workbenches. The company ledgers demonstrate that nearly 80% of the 1600 watches produced by Audemars Piguet between 1882 and 1892 included at least one, if not several complications. Refined chiming, chronograph and astronomical watches, assembled and finished by hand, have remained the beating heart of Audemars Piguet ever since.