Antique Esperantos Minute Repeater Pocket Watch + Chrono, 14K Gold. Switzerland, 1900

Antique Esperantos minute-repeating pocket watch with chronograph, made in Switzerland in 1900 and with 14K gold casing. The watch is in fine condition, both the casing and the movement, and remains in good working order. This model was made by Le Phare ((Barbezat-Baillot), a Swiss firm located in Le Locle and originally founded as Guye & Barbezat. In 1888 the name was changed to Le Phare; in 1900, Barbezat-Baillot advertised their brands that year as La Locloise, lEsperanto, Le Phare,Tempora and La Volapuk. The watch mounts a four-leaf casing made of solid gold, the front and back covers with sunburst guilloche engraving, one side with a cameo for the owners initials (blank).There is a suppressed ball fluted gold push button pendant and oval bow placed at the three position (savonette), opposite the case hinge. Under the rear cap we find a gold cuvette engraved with prize medals and marked, No. 13183, Esperantos, minute repeating, Chronograph. The inside of the outer covers is marked for 14k gold, with no hallmarks evident. There are push and slide buttons on the outer case band for the repeater function and the chronograph functions. The watch has a white round dial enameled with upright black Arabic hour numerals, closed bar outer minute track and outermost fifths of a second divisions marked every five seconds with Arabic markers, subsidiary seconds dial at 6 and blued steel Continental Spade hands, with gilt center seconds chronograph pointer. As for the movement, it is most likely a calibre 19 Le Phare movement with gilt plates, fully jeweled, straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, centrifugal force governor, typical of Le Phare adjacent to the Swiss made index regulator, repeating on two circular gongs activated by a push-button on the band. As lovely as antique, this wonderful antique Esperantos minute-repeating 14K-gold pocket watch with chronograph will stand out in the best collection. Dimensions: Width: 55 mm.