Lot 323

Louis Brandt & Frère

A fine splendour hunting case pocket watch with minute repeater and carillon with 3 hammers and 3 gongs

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This magnificent watch impresses the viewer with the excellent condition of its case, dial and movement. Three hammers strike three different gongs for the minute repeater, a so-called carillon chime. This is a rare and very sophisticated construction.

In 1848 Louis Brandt (1825-1879), only 23 years old, opened a factory for the production of pocket watches in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The models produced there first bore his own name, ie "Louis Brandt" on the dial. After the elder son Louis Paul entered 1877 the business, the company was called Louis Brandt & Fils. Louis Brandt died on July 5, 1879.
The two sons Louis Paul and Cesar relocated the company in the same year to Biel, where it has its headquarters also today. From 1891 it was called Louis Brandt & Frère and at about turn of the century it adopted the later famous name Omega.