Antique Niello Pocket Watch by Rigi

Antique niello pocket watch by Rigi.

The watch has a good quality 15-jewel stem-winding movement which is working nicely. The movement is protected by an inner cover which has images of medals and details of the movement.

The watch measures 51mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is niello ware. Niello is a process whereby a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, is used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver, in this case 800 silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is pushed into the engraved lines in the metal.

Unusually the niello case has an image of an early mono plane flying over the sea, with the coastline and ships in the distance, with decoration below replicating the movement of the waves and what appears to be a suggestion of a bird to the top. There is also niello decoration around the bezel.

Condition wise, a slight indentation to the back and some niello loss to the bezel but not too detrimental to the appearance.

The inside of the case back has the scratched name Alois Güller Würenlos. Herr Güller was a business man based in Würenlos, a German speaking municipality in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, and he had close links to the church.

The acrylic lens is in beautiful condition.

The dial is signed Rigi, a name registered by Rieder & Gigandet (hence the name Rigi) in the first part of the 1900s. The company was listed as watch makers. The mark was registered again in the 1940s. From published records, the company had bases in both Switzerland and Germany and indeed the case has both Swiss and German marks.

The dial has several hairline cracks although most are faint or covered by the bezel, the dial is stable. Outer minute track with red 24 hour numbers.

The watch comes in a new presentation box.

ALL PRICES INCLUDE UK POSTAGE (because of GPSR legislation, we no longer post items less than 100 years old to Europe, including Northern Ireland).

Please contact us regarding international shipping.

All of our watches are checked over before listing, and are also checked for accuracy which is usually within around +/- two to three minutes over 24 hours (unless otherwise stated), which is considered respectable for a vintage watch.

We are a VAT registered company and all purchases are covered by Consumer Regulations.

Credit / debit card purchases up to £300 can be made over the telephone on 01386 750238 or you can proceed via the 'Purchase Antique' button on each listing page. Alternatively, there is a Paypal payment link if you scroll down the page and we also accept bank transfers.

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With regards to appraisals / valuations, we receive a huge number of information requests each day and unfortunately do not have the manpower to deal with them all individually. Our advice would be to contact a local auctioneer for a full appraisal.