"Vault watch" mint high fine Lecoultre Cal. 42 Grand complication 18k gold circa 1895.

Significant high fine astronomical Swiss gentleman's pocket watch with the following complications:

Repeating hours, quarter hours and minutes, with perpetual calendar with leap year indicator, date, day of the week, month as well as moon phase and moon age indicator.

Case: "bassine et filets" 18k gold, smooth, movement under glass dome, no inscriptions or monograms, numbered 71655, 18k hallmark and the Swiss gold Helvetica hallmark (valid from 1882-1934) in all covers. Case is made in best heavy Swiss quality and in pristine condition.

Five-piece, white enamel dial with radial Roman numerals, outer seconds track, four sub-dials for the days of the week, date, months, subsidiary seconds; moon phase aperture with moon phase and moon calendar. Moon phase with cobalt blue enameled gold moon phase disk with gold moon and stars. Original blued steel spade hands, small constant seconds. All hands are original, dial and hands are in very nice undamaged condition.

Diameter without slider: 57 mm, height 18mm, weight 195 grams.  Circa 1890-1900. the case made of burl wood with brass cartouche, circa 15x11cm, with minor signs of use due to age.

Literature references: Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775 - 1975; Author: Kathleen H. Pritchard, pages L-18-L36 and Osvaldo Patrizzi "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois", pages 235 & 252.

Movement: Lecoultre Cal. 42 bridge movement RMS, 20''' lines, grained and gilded, fine polished and angled steel parts, minute repeater on 2 hammers/ 2 tone springs, gold screw compensated balance, index fine regulating, 2 screwed chartons, 28 dark ruby bearing jewels, steel lever escapement with balance weight in the form of beetle feelers (the same type used by Patek Phillipe in its Observatory chronometers). The fully functional movement is in mint condition.

The watch has an impressive weight of 195 grams and feels very nice in the hand, this is further supported by the size of the watch. The dial looks very elegant and structured despite the many indications. This complex pocket watch in excellent condition is not only an extremely valuable collectible, but also a very good investment piece.

The attribution of the watch is based on the anniversary catalog "LeCoultre & Cie 100 years" from 1903 p. 15 (see the photo).

Lecoultre & Cie. Le Sentier:

The LeCoultre Manufacture was founded in 1833 by brothers Charles-Antoine and François-Ulysse LeCoultre. In 1866, Antoine's son Élie LeCoultre modernized the company by introducing quality standards. In 1877, Antoine LeCoultre and Auguste Borgeaud handed over the business to LeCoultre's descendants, and the company was renamed LeCoultre & Cie. In 1888, the company employed 480 people, half of them in the company's own premises in Le Sentier. Beginning in 1902, LeCoultre & Cie manufactured most of the ébauches for Patek Philippe for 30 years. In 1866, LeCoultre & Cie began making movements with small complications in small batches. Then in 1891, two complications, the chronograph function and the minute repeater, were combined in one movement. This development led to the production of large complications in the mid-1890s.

LeCoultre & Cie's collaboration with Jaeger resulted in a merger of the two companies under Jacques-David LeCoultre in 1937 under the name Jaeger-LeCoultre. In 1938, under marketing director Georges Ketterer and administrative director Paul Lebet, the collaboration with Vacheron Constantin led to a union of the two companies in the holding company SAPIC. (Source: Wikipedia.org).

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