H.J.C

H. J.C., Swiss, No. 3292, Patent No. 11948, circa 1896.Fine and extremely rare 18K gold, hunting-cased, keyless minute-repeating watch with "Carillon Westminster" chime. Four-body, massive, "bassine", polished. White enamel with Roman numerals and sunk subsidiary seconds. Blued steel "spade" hands. Notes Swiss patent No. 11948, registered on March 20, 1896, was granted to Constant Piguet from Le Sentier for a carillon watch repeating on four gongs with four hammers.Minute-repeating watches with Westminster Carillon are very rare. They were the specialty of Edouard Jean Richard in Le Locle. An identical watch signed by Bernard Janneret Jean-Guy, in the Musée International d'Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, is illustrated in A. Chapuis: "Grands Artisans de la Chronométrie", pages 227, fig. 161-162.This watch is published in the Ruscitti book, as no. 67.