124 - École d'Horlogerie Neuchâtel - Paul Matthey

École d'Horlogerie Neuchâtel - Paul Matthey (*) A rare Swiss graduate's pocket watch—a masterpiece—made at the Neuchâtel watchmaking school Movement No. 560, Ref. School Watch, Case No. 1914-15, Dimensions 54 mm, circa 1914, Weight 113 g, Origin: Switzerland Case: Silver, bas-relief motif of Helvetia holding a sword, engraved with the year 1914, featuring soldiers waving the Swiss flag and a cheering crowd in the background, signed “Huguenin,” case maker’s mark “HF” (Huguenin Frères). Dial: Enamel. Movement: Bridge movement, lever escapement, large gold-screw-compensated balance, blued Breguet balance spring. This watch is illustrated and described in *Klassik Uhren*, 3/98, p. 46 ff. The École d’horlogerie de Neuchâtel (Neuchâtel Watchmaking School) was a historic Swiss technical school for watchmaking in the canton of Neuchâtel. Institutions of this kind, founded in the 19th and early 20th centuries, were established to train fully qualified watchmakers and to counteract the subsequent shortage of skilled labor caused by highly specialized, division-of-labor production methods. Graduates of these watchmaking schools often built their own pocket watches or movements as final examination pieces. Today, these watches—known as École d’Horlogerie (e.g., from Neuchâtel or Le Locle)—are traded as rare collector’s items. Case: very good. Dial: very good. Movement: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.