Cooper / Liverpool - Silver, ca. 1860, early Swiss lever escapement - pocket watch No Reserve Price - 1850-1900

An interesting, and elegant silver savonette in overall very good condition. Entirely manufactured in Switzerland for the English market with a gilded, Victorian-style dial, signed “Cooper Liverpool” on the dust lid. Switzerland, Canton of Neuchatel, ca. 1860.

A matching antique silver winding key is included in the lot (winding & hand-setting). The exceptional key is adorned with 5 semi-precious stones on the head and features an internal freewheel mechanism, allowing winding only in a clockwise direction. Length: 59.4 mm, maximum head diameter: 16 mm, weight: 9 g.

Watch case: Silver savonette case, diam. 49.3 mm, height only 12.8 mm. Beautiful floral decoration on all sides. The inside of the front and back cover as well as the dust cover are gold plated, the dust cover is signed by the retailer “Cooper Liverpool”. The inside of the back cover is hallmarked with a casemaker`s mark “AJ” and the Chevron hallmark with the added word “Argent” (silver). This hallmark was used in the Canton of Neuchatel (Neuenburg) from the 1700`s until 1881 for a minimum fineness for silver 812.5/1000.

Dial: Lovely gilded, Victorian-style dial with the depiction of a castle in very good condition, large Roman numerals. Original blued Breguet style hands, watch crystal without scratches.

Movement: Interesting early Swiss lever movement with long lever, screw balance, “finger bridges” design and rare Geneva stop work with Maltese cross (German: “Malteserkreuz-Stellung”, see pictures). 13 jewels, all cocks are jeweled, but the lever is not.

The previous service history is unknown, in December 2024 the movement received a partial service. All bridges and cocks, as well as the gear train and the escapement were disassembled, cleaned in an ultrasonic bath, and reassembled. All bearings and the escapement were then lubricated with Swiss MOEBIUS oil. When wound, the movement now runs smoothly and with tolerable accuracy, deviation approx. + 3.5 minutes per day. Power reserve is 32 hours, as is typical for a design with Geneva stop work.

Fast and reliable shipping with DHL EXPRESS (Austria & Turkey: Post, insured), pictures are part of the description, customs duties and additional expenses for shipping outside the EU (European Union) shall be borne by the buyer.