A late 19th Century Swiss lever watch with rare patent winding system in a gold full hunter case. Damascened nickelled bar movement with going barrel. Plain cock with polished steel regulator, compensation balance with blue steel overcoil hairspring. Club foot lever escapement. Screwed in jewelling, escape pivots with endstones in a gold setting. Gold train wheels. The watch is wound by the action of opening and closing the hunter cover. A gold slide in the band retains a small sprung button which is used to set the hands. Fine white enamel dial with Roman numerals, subsidiary seconds, blue steel Breguet hands. Decorative richly chased and engraved 18 carat gold full hunter case, the back cover decorated with a foliate motif and the front having a vacant cartouche. Signed on the gold cuvette by the retailer and inscribed "Remontoir Invisible et mise a l'heure Automatique Brevet".

• Signed __________ Ls Frie Lebele - Neuchatel
• Circa 1875
• Diameter 54 mm
• Condition
• ==> Case _______ Very good.
• ==> Dial ._______ Very good.
• ==> Movement __ Very good.

The Patent for this unusual winding mechanism was taken out in 1873 by Haas. It is an ingenious solution for the provision of a winding mechanism that required little from the wearer other than normal use of the watch. Every time the cover is opened the barrel is wound approximately a quarter of a turn, the watch would need to be used about twenty times each day to keep it running. A rare watch:- few examples now appear for sale. See The Camerer Cuss Book of Antique Watches, Page 244.

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