358 - Jeanneret-Brehm - École d'Horlogerie St. Imier

Jeanneret-Brehm - École d'Horlogerie St. Imier (*) A rare quarter repeating pocket watch, probably a masterpiece by Henri Jeanneret from the St. Imier Watchmaking School. Henri Jeanneret was the grandson of the founder of Excelsior Park Movm. No. 1, Cal. LeCoultre, Case No. 1, Dimensions 54 mm, circa 1920, Weight 107 g, Origin Schweiz Case: 18 K gold, smooth. Dial: Enamel. Movm.: Bridge movement, 2 hammers / 2 gongs, lever escapement, gold screw compensation balance. Jules-Frédéric Jeanneret founded his company - which would later become known as “Excelsior Park” - in 1866 in Saint-Imier. His primary interest lay in short-time measurement, which led him to focus mainly on the design of stopwatches. The path of the young company toward becoming a specialist in chronographs was therefore set from the beginning. Twenty-two years later, in 1888, Jeanneret’s sons took over the management of the company. One of them, Albert Jeanneret, filed a patent for a chronograph in 1891. Only two years later he transferred decision-making authority to his own sons, Henri and Constant, the grandsons of the founder. The brothers, however, disagreed on how the company should be run. In 1901 they decided to part ways. Constant left the business and shortly thereafter purchased the firm Leonidas, which was likewise specialized in the making of chronographs. Henri Jeanneret continued the company under the name Jeanneret- Brehm & Cie and developed it very successfully. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to determine at what point Jeanneret began to name his watches “Excelsior Park.” Yet the brand name already appears on the very early wristwatches. Case: very good. Dial: very good. Movm.: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.