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SO HERE WE GO...

* * * Please see and read all the details that follow on this RARE, early antique, VICTORIAN / CIVIL WAR PERIOD timepiece, with a HEAVY DUTY & SOLID, SILVER OPEN FACE CASE, MADE BY THE FAMOUS & HISTORIC SWISS PARTNERSHIP OF THE WUILLEUMIER & ROBERT FIRMS OF CHAUX-DE-FONDS, SWITZERLAND ~ HIGHLY REGARDED, SWISS & ENGLISH WATCHMAKERS FOR PROFESSIONALS AROUND THE WORLD ! ! !

HIGHLY INNOVATIVE AND A VERY HIGHLY RESPECTED FIRM DATING BACK TO THE MID 1800s.



WONDERFUL AND RARE, 1860s, FULL SIZE KEYWIND POCKET WATCH, MADE TO THE FINEST SWISS STANDARDS, WITH A WONDERFUL, ORIGINAL, FULLY SIGNED, WHITE ENAMEL DIAL !

RUNNING CONDITION – SUPERBLY EXPERTLY CRAFTED EARLY SWISS PATENT LEVER ESCAPEMENT - ORIGINAL KEY WOUND & SET, FULLY JEWELED WITH RUBIES AND SAPPHIRES, VERY HIGH GRADE SIGNED MOVEMENT COMPLETE WITH COMPENSATION BALANCE ! !

SUPERBLY CRAFTED ORIGINAL SILVER, SMOOTH FINISHED OPEN FACE CASE, WITH CRISP COIN-EDGED MIDDLE BAND !
SUPERB, LARGE, ORIGINAL, RARE SIGNED WHITE ENAMEL DIAL WITH INTRICATE BLUED STEEL HANDS – EXCELLENT CONDITION ! ! !

BEAUTIFUL, EARLY, FULL SIZE, HIGH-GRADE SWISS CRAFTED TIMEPIECE - IN VERY GOOD CONDITION, WITH ANTIQUE WATCH PAPER – SEE IMAGES FOLLOWING THE FULL DESCRIPTION:

Here is a wonderful opportunity to acquire a nice and ORIGINAL example of a RARE, handcrafted & solid Pocket Watch of the Victorian and CIVIL WAR Periods, produced by a well known and very highly regarded historic firm. Very well crafted, equipped with a high quality movement, and housed in a Solid, Silver Open Face Case which has not been personalized in any way. Well balanced and proportioned, this fine FULL SIZE (equivalent to at least an American Railroad Grade 16 Size) timepiece measures a solid 51mm (2") in diameter, while remaining only 14mm (just over 1/2") thick, and weighs a SOLID 3.0 OUNCES (84 Grams)!
It is, indeed, a high quality, performance, Pocket Watch with HIGH-GRADE movement, that would have been considered quite a serious and expensive piece in its day.

This antique keywind Pocket Watch dates around the early 1860s, and is a genuine work of master craftsmanship. Produced by the Highly Regarded, FAMOUS & HISTORIC Partnership Firm, of ‘Wuilleumier and Robert & Fils (sons) which combined their efforts together in the early 1860s.
The ‘WUILLEUMIER’ Firm was established in London by Daniel Wuilleumier in the mid-1800s, and established a solid reputation.
The ‘ROBERT’ name is also very well regarded, and has a proud family history of quality watchmaking dating, all the way back, to Abram Robert who was active in the mid-1600s!

Many family makers were active, and established solid reputations, throughout the 1700s. Josue’ Robert (born in 1691, died 1771) was a famous horologist, and maker to the King of Prussia from 1725, and founded the firm of ‘J. Robert Et Fils’. By 1787, ‘Robert Et Fils’ (Robert & Sons) began an association with Louis Courvoisier, and by 1805 this firm was known as ‘Robert Courvoisier Et Cie’.
Other family members established their own firms, and the ‘Robert’ name became very well known, highly regarded, and established in Chaux de Fonds, Le Locle, Geneva, and Paris. One such eminent family maker was Henri Robert; a writer, experimenter, inventor, and maker of exquisite clocks and watches.

Henri Robert was born in 1794 (died in 1874), had a great interest in clock and watchmaking, and became a pupil of Abraham-Louis Breguet, in Paris. Breguet, for those who are not aware, was one of the most famous, important, and innovative horologists of all time; to list all his achievements is a whole separate story in itself. I would encourage anyone interested in the history of timekeeping to read of his accomplishments. In fact, Breguet Watches are still made to this day, and are at the very high end of the luxury market.

Henri Robert became very skilled in the trade, and went on to establish his own firm, that by 1832 was operating out of the Palais Royal (the Royal Palace of Versailles), rue de Valois. By 1847 he was appointed clockmaker to the Navy, and had published several works on clock and watchmaking. He later relocated to the rue du Coq, in the Faubourg St. Honore’, and also established his firm’s presence in Geneva as well.
He was very innovative, and his inventions included a half-second compensated pendulum, a bimetallic strip for chronometer balances, and a marine chronometer fitted with a pivoted detent escapement and going barrel instead of fusee. This type of going barrel was adopted and used by several famous chronometer makers, including, Ferdinand Berthoud, Breguet and Julien Le Roy.

Back in the Swiss Neuchatel Region of CHAUX-DE-FONDS, during the mid-1800, the original (Robert Et Fils’) business was carried on by J.L. Robert (who too was a master watchmaker in the finest tradition of the family’s historic legacy) who partnered with the ‘Wuilleumier Watch Co. (as this fine piece is signed), around 1863. I have provided this short glimpse into the history and success of the ‘Wuilleumier’ and ‘Robert’ makers to help give you an idea of just how important and successful they were in the world of horology and chronometry throughout the entire 1700s and well into the 1800s. Any timepiece produced by them is sure to be designed and crafted to the highest standards.

This antique keywind Pocket Watch dates around the early 1860s, and is a genuine work of true Swiss master craftsmanship. This piece represents the high end of the finest quality watchmaking and manufacturing of the period, and is comparable in quality to what the other top firms (i.e. Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Jules Jurgensen, Audemars etc.) were producing during the mid-1800s.

This Watch is no exception, and a genuine work of master craftsmanship that is complete with its ORIGINAL, Finely Crafted Silver CASE. The quality, triple hinged, Open Face Case is still in quite good condition throughout, and is a nice sight to see and hold. The Case is SUBSTANTIALLY crafted from high quality silver. It has no major dents or problems, with only some minor surface wear/marks that are typical in a Watch Case that has been handled, carried regularly in the pocket at one time, and having survived for around 140 years. This fine surviving, smooth finished, FULL SIZE Case is obviously well designed, has excellent proportions and balance, and has a feel of substance and top quality in the hand.

You should be able to get an idea of the overall condition and excellent quality of the Case from the images below. It is difficult to photograph (it's so shiny); any wavy lines or distortions you may see are from the light reflections, and not actually on the Watch itself. I have tried to provide good pictures, including the front, back, and inside of the Watch.

The next excellent aspect of the Watch is the condition of its DIAL. The handcrafted, White Enamel Dial is BRIGHT & CLEAN, and in wonderful condition with only a very slight wear – in fact, it still looks EXCELLENT to me ~ especially for such a Full Size, Period Dial! For those familiar with old enamel it quite often gets numerous chips, not so with this piece. It is quite an achievement to have survived in such good condition, especially for being more than a century old – this is indeed quite RARE! It also has NOT been refinished (which makes it even more desirable), and still has the original, finely painted black Roman Numerals & Minute markers, as well as the subsidiary seconds dial. The smooth finished bezel carries a clear acrylic crystal. To top it off, are a wonderful set of finely crafted & intricate (likely Original), BLUED STEEL Hands.

This wonderful ORIGINAL Dial is Fully Signed at center, "WUILLEUMIER – ROBERT & FILS", "CHAUX-DE-FONDS". It would be nearly impossible to find such an Original, period Signed Dial today!

The Hand Finished Lepine Bar/Bridge Style Movement with going barrel is ORIGINAL, obviously very well crafted, BRIGHT & CLEAN, and remains FULLY OPERATIONAL to this day! I do not know when it was last serviced, however the Watch has been RUNNING STRONG (sounding brisk with a STRONG "TICK" here on the desk). I expect it is possible that the old oil is gumming up, so it could stop or varying in timekeeping if worn or jostled about. As mentioned is has run well during static testing, although accuracy/duration cannot be guaranteed, after all it is an antique piece. Once it has been freshly serviced with new oil, given how well it has been working as is, it should be READY TO WIND & WEAR!

I am offering this wonderful, highly collectable, Original, GENUINE & HISTORIC, Antique & Highly Collectable, DOUBLE-SIGNED (Dial & Movement) ‘WUILLEUMIER – ROBERT & FILS’, Civil War / Victorian Period Pocket Watch with a very low reserve!

It certainly stands apart from the much more common, average grade movements you usually come across in Watches from this period. Also of note, the majority of Watches made at the time were still quite large, and bulky. The demand for high quality Watches that were thinner continued to grow, especially from the more fashion conscious clientele. What we now take for granted in a slim timepiece was still quite rare in the mid 1800s, with many Watches still over 3/4" thick, and more.
In order to facilitate a smaller size, the traditional Full Plate movement design would not do. The answer came in a bar/bridge arrangement that was first developed by the famous French Watchmaker Jean-Antoine Lepine around 1790. It was a design of individual bridges, which allowed for much thinner Watches, especially when combined with the newer escapements such as the Cylinder or Lever. The shape, style, and arrangement of these bridges evolved over the years and are useful in dating a piece. The design found in this Watch is a finely finished form which was used in quality pieces pre-dating stem winding. This form was in use from around the mid 1850s until around 1865; as later on the bars became more in-line with each other and straight sided.

It is equipped with an excellent example and top execution of the High Quality, Fully Jeweled, Lever escapement. Most similar Watches from this period were made with the much more common Cylinder escapement, have fewer jewels, and are less robust. This movement has the much more precise, and desirable Fully Jeweled LEVER escapement with a highly POLISHED STEEL club tooth escape wheel. The LEVER itself is of a very EARLY curved design, with right angle JEWELED pallets, which is more rare to find, (almost all Swiss Levers are made in a straight-line design with forked pallets), and this also helps to date the manufacture to the early 1860s.

The roller table supports a JEWELED, impulse/unlocking pin, and mates to a true running COMPENSATED & TIMED BALANCE WHEEL. This in itself is another interesting feature, and sign of higher quality, as Watches of this period typically have a plain, three-arm brass balance wheel. This Watch is equipped with a much more rare and high grade, Balance Wheel, which has been adjusted and timed. To ensure the balance was running as true as possible under all conditions, it was finely measured, fitted, and tuned with tiny screws around the rim. As you can imagine, this whole process of manufacture and adjustment was quite expensive, and time consuming; therefore it is normally found only on the more expensive, and serious, high-grade movements. The evenly pulsing hairspring is finely adjusted by a POLISHED STEEL regulator, in reference to an engraved index on the balance cock.

The Watch is key wound, and the time set from the back following the typical Swiss design, through the SILVER Movement Dust Cover (Cuvette). It is also important to know that most Watches of this period are not signed at all, and merely carry a number on the plate, if anything. A signed piece of work is generally of the highest quality (telling everyone who made it, and where, so it must look and function well) and is also, therefore, more rare and collectable – especially DOUBLE-SIGNED, by a well respected Firm from this very early period, and surviving intact from the mid-1800s ~ in RUNNING CONDITION ! ! !

Ultimately, this is a very nice, early, KEYWIND POCKET WATCH, and a fine example of a FULL SIZED high quality, FUNCTIONING timepiece of the mid-1800s. If you are a collector, have an interest in Rare Watches, or historical items of the Victorian and/or CIVIL WAR Period, this presents a very good example of a truly antique timepiece that not only looks interesting but also is genuine and top quality throughout. It is, indeed, a fine piece of INVESTMENT horological history, from a famous and world renowned manufacture.

Nice Early KEYWINDS themselves are very desirable, and are becoming more and more rare. Even the Winding and Setting Key (as pictured) is provided, and I will also provide a sheet of information on the care, operation, and handling of such a timepiece for those who may not be too familiar with those aspects.

Please note, this is an as is, sale final, LOW RESERVE Auction, so feel free to bid, with a good chance of owning this very desirable and RARE surviving Pocket Watch! Such nice early examples do not come available very often, and this presents a great opportunity for you to acquire a genuine, high quality, Serious Swiss, HIGH PERFORMANCE Fully Signed Pocket Timepiece!

Shipping via Priority Mail, within the U.S. is FREE, and the successful bidder will pay for Insurance. Shipping outside the U.S. is based on a standard cost. I accept bids from, and ship, worldwide with the exception of Indonesia, Italy and Nigeria.

Prompt COMMUNICATION & PAYMENT (INSTANT PayPal, not eCheck, with Confirmed Address) is REQUIRED from the winning bidder IMMEDIATELY following auction close.

I have supplied a number of images (twelve following this text) to help provide a good view of the many wonderful aspects of this fine piece; please be patient as they load for you. The entire text and images are COPYRIGHTED. If all the images do not come up completely, hit the ‘Reload’ or ‘Refresh’ button on your browser to bring them up again.

* * * A TRULY BEAUTIFUL SURVIVOR AND MOST INTERESTING COMBINATION OF EARLY HIGH-GRADE SWISS CRAFTED HOROLOGY – QUITE SOMETHING SPECIAL TO HOLD IN THE HAND, AND TO SEE IN PERSON * * *













NOTICE THE GENUINE ANTIQUE WATCH PAPER (from when the watch was serviced in the far distant past), INCLUDED INSIDE ~ THESE ANTIQUES PAPERS ARE HIGHLY COLLECTABLE THEMSELVES!















A VERY SERIOUS HEAVY DUTY & SOLID TIMEPIECE ~ WEIGHING 3.0 OUNCES (84 Grams!)

A HIGHLY COLLECTABLE, GENUINE, RARE WUILLEUMIER – ROBERT & FILS POCKET WATCH ~ HISTORIC, INNOVATIVE MAKERS OF FINE TIMEPIECES, AND HIGH PERFORMANCE WATCHES WITH COMPLICATIONS !

STILL IN STRONG RUNNING CONDITION TO THIS DAY !

COMPLETE WITH A GENUINE AND HIGHLY COLLECTABLE, GENUINE ANTIQUE WATCH PAPER!

Enjoy eBay, Take Care, and Good Luck Bidding!