Unusual German gold quarter hour repeating pocket watch Circa 1840

Gold repeating pocket watch by CL Baumgartel
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A German quarter hour repeating pocket watch from Leipzig, crafted in the style of Abraham-Louis Breguet, circa 1840. The watch features a frosted gilded movement with a cylinder escapement, a plain three arm balance, a flat blued steel hairspring with a bimetallic compensation curb, parachute suspension, a blued steel index regulator, two polished steel hammers that repeat on coiled gongs, and a barrel cover signed C. L. Baumgärtel. It has a white enamel dial, signed C. L. Baumgärtel Leipzig, showcasing Arabic numerals, an outer minute ring, and gold moon hands. The gold case boasts an engine turned back and band, with the back centred by a vacant cartouche, a quarter turn piston repeat, and a gilt metal cuvette engraved with movement details, featuring apertures for winding and hand setting, stamped HF incuse and numbered.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Weight: 98 g
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Signed: CL Baumgartel Leipzig
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At first sight, this pocket watch appears to be crafted in the style of Abraham-Louis Breguet: the case’s shape with an engine-turned middle section, the extensively inscribed French cuvette, the unique push-piece that can be pulled and rotated for the repeater in the pendant, the clear dial with Breguet-style numbers and hands, and the movement’s construction featuring temperature compensation and parachute shock protection – all unmistakably reminiscent of Breguet’s exceptional pocket watches.
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Movement is running. There are some signs of dirt, but the visible surfaces generally look in good aesthetic condition. The repeating work is operational but struggles to complete the quarters, sometimes missing the third quarter, particularly having difficulty with the quarters after 12 o’clock. The dial appears to be in good condition overall, with a small scratch between 12 and 1. The case is generally acceptable, showing some rubbing and loss of definition to the engine turning at the edge of the case back, with a small indentation on the back beneath the bezel. The decoration on the band is in good order. The inside back features a control mark for Neuchatel 1820-1866. Stamped 18k.
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CL Baumgärtel is recorded as a clockmaker who was active in Leipzig during the mid 19th century, as documented in Jürgen Abeler’s Meister der Uhrmacherkunst, p. 51, and in Brian Loomes’ Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World on p. 51. In Jürgen Ermert’s PPU series Volume 2, Baumgärtel is mentioned as the maker of a precision pendulum clock with sweep seconds and Seyffert’s knob mechanism believed to date back to 1828 and capable of running for 8 days. In 1841, CL Baumgärtel was listed in the general trade, business, and factory almanac of the Austrian imperial state. As a merchant in Leipzig, he began importing Stutz watches from Vienna as early as 1834. According to the Leipziger Zeitung of January 23, 1847, his business was located at Reichsstraße 49, then later at Ritterstraße 39. Baumgärtel also dealt in French clocks, as evidenced by his signature Farret à Paris, CL Baumgartel, Leipzg and Medaille d’Argent Vincenti found on a fire gilded French mantel clock dating back to 1885.