An Unusual Antique Silver Borgel Cased Tavannes Pocket Watch.

An unusual antique silver Borgel cased Tavannes pocket watch.

The Tavannes Watch Company was founded in 1891 by Henri-Frédéric Sandoz and his partners, wealthy fabric merchants. The company was very successful and very soon they were exporting to several countries including Canada, Russia, United States, and the Far East.

By 1905, the company was producing 450,000 watches a year and over the next four years, this rose to three quarters of a million watches a year.

The company was constantly looking at ways to improve and in 1910 they won the Gold Medal at the Grand Prix de Bruxelles.

This particular watch has a signed 3/4 plate stem-winding pin set movement, which is working nicely.

The watch itself measures 51mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the loop. The case is silver and there are continental .935 silver marks inside the case back, with a case maker’s for François Borgel. Borgel patented the eponymous Borgel watch case in 1891, a real step forward in waterproof and dustproof watches cases, making pocket watch cases first and subsequently moving onto wrist watches as fashions changed.

François Borgel was a successful inventor and business man, and his business became one of the most important watch case manufacturers of its time. Early adopters of the Borgel screw case included Longines and the International Watch Co. (IWC). After François Borgel’s death in 1912, the business was carried on by his daughter Louisa.

The case has some small marks but overall is in good condition for its age. There is an arrow on the central cartouche on the back. the bezel has a small nick to the edge at 10 o'clock.

The watch glass is in nice condition with only a couple of small nibbles to the outer edge and the odd faint surface mark from use.

The white enamel dial is signed Tavanne,s Watch and is in nice condition.

The watch has blued steel hands.

The watch will be sent in a new presentation box.

Price includes worldwide postage

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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.

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