4 - SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE OR, in Besançon (goldsmith).

SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE OR, in Besançon (goldsmith). Savonnette pocket watch in 18K yellow gold (750 parts per thousand). Round case with a guilloché and chased back and lid, featuring a design of vertical bands, floral bouquets, laurel branches, and knotted ribbons, in the Louis XVI style. An oval cartouche with foliage motifs bears the initials “JM.” Smooth inner case and pearl-grained decoration on the underside of the lids. White enamel dial with Arabic numerals for the hours and a railway-track minute scale, complemented by inner numerals from 13 to 24 in blue. Small seconds at six o’clock. Gold-tone hour and minute hands. Mechanical movement with manual winding via a pendant; the front cover opens via a push button integrated into the winding crown. Manufacturer’s hallmark “SG” accompanied by a key, for the Société Générale Or in Besançon. Circa 1900. Gross weight: 83.4 g. D. 5 - H. 6 cm. Founded in Besançon in 1880, the Société générale des monteurs de boîtes d’or, known as Société Générale Or or Generalor, specialized in the manufacture of watch cases made of precious metals. Present at the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, it employed 250 workers and produced 200,000 gold watch cases in 1900, around the time this savonnette watch was produced, reflecting the importance of this industry in the watchmaking capital of the Franche-Comté region and its modernization in step with the major events of the late 19th century.