{"product_id":"hunter-chronograph-for-graa-dufour-neyret-paris-c-1885","title":"Hunter Chronograph for Grâa, Dufour \u0026 Neyret, Paris, c.1885","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Geneva column-wheel chronograph by Lattes Frères, a house better known in Cairo, cased in French 18ct gold and sold in Paris in the 1880s.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA large gold hunter of the 1880s, 52.9 mm across, with plain polished covers and a quiet exterior: a fluted crown, a round bow and two small pushers set into the band at twelve and six. The front cover springs open cleanly. The only ornament is lettering. Under the front cover, the bezel carries the Paris retailer's name in engraved capitals around its full circle, framing the dial.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe dial is laid out for timing. Black Roman hours sit inside an outer track divided into fifths of a second and numbered every five. The subsidiary seconds at six are sunk into the enamel, which keeps the running seconds below the long centre hand as it sweeps. The hour and minute hands are gold spades, and the chronograph hand is a fine steel needle that reaches the very edge of the track. The enamel is bright white, the black printing crisp down to the fifth-second divisions, and the signature, Lattes Frères \u0026amp; Cie, Genève, is set small in black capitals under twelve.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe chronograph is the plain early form. The pusher at twelve starts the hand, stops it and returns it to zero; the one at six sets the time. There is no minute counter, which leaves the dial uncluttered and gives the centre hand the whole face. Behind the back cover the movement sits under a glazed inner cover rather than a solid one, and the column wheel and polished steel levers are visible through it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe watch was made in one country and sold in another, and both are written on it. In the 1880s the Besançon houses cased Geneva movements in French gold for the Paris trade, and this is one of them. Movement and dial are Geneva work. The case is French 18ct gold, assayed in the provinces and struck with the horse head on the pendant, and the bezel opens with Horlogerie Française. The maker's monogram, LFC, is engraved inside both covers, and the retailer's name runs around the glass.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe marks, the movement and the condition are set out in the drawers below.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lattes Frères \u0026 Cie","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55908798333267,"sku":"PW-0183","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/lattes-freres-chronograph-gold-pocket-watch-c1885-2.jpg?v=1794586081","url":"https:\/\/estatecollection.nl\/products\/hunter-chronograph-for-graa-dufour-neyret-paris-c-1885","provider":"The Estate Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}