CARTIER, A VERY RARE AND ELEGANT 18K GOLD THIN KEYLESS LEVER POCKET WATCH WITH CONCEALED DIAL AND SPRING-LOADED SLIDING SHUTTERS



Details

CIRCA: 1930s
CASE NO: 30995 / 3859 / 28571
CASE MATERIAL: Yellow gold
CASE DIAMETER: 45 mm.
DIAL: Silvered
MOVEMENT: Manual, keyless
FUNCTIONS: Time only
BOX: No
PAPERS: No


Lot Essay

A beautiful and very rare 1930s Cartier shutter watch with the initials ‘GR’ engraved on the sprung shutters which are opened by depressing a button in the pendant. The movement is signed ‘European Watch and Clock Co. Inc.’, the interior of the case back is punched ‘JC’ for Jacques Cartier and is stamped with London import marks for 1933.
The éclipse or shutter watch was designed by Edmond Jaeger for Cartier in the early 1910s, the first patent (no. 412'821) was issued in 1910, the second for a modified version with two dials (no. 16'918) in 1913.
For an illustration of Jaeger's drawings and the two versions of such éclipse or shutter watches see: The Cartier Collection - Timepieces, Editions Flammarion, p. 162 and pp. 164 & 165.