Lot 14

Cortébert "Chronometre", Cal. 526, each 57 mm, 135 g and 155 g, circa 1940 / circa 1994
A rare pair of two deck chronometers - special edition of only 20 pieces - with original box
Case: silver and 18k gold, screwed and reeded bezels, glazed on both sides. Dials: silvered and gilt, radial Roman hours, auxiliary seconds, signed, blued spade hands. Movm.: bridge movements, frosted, gilt, signed, large Glucydur screw balances, incabloc shock protections.
Cortébert watch manufactory
Adam Louis Juillard (1760-1831) founded a manufactory for watch parts in St. Imier; in 1803 this became a company that produced watch movements. Much later - from 1864 to 1866 - the founder’s grandson Albert Juillard moved the firm to Cortébert near Geneva and it gained a reputation for making good quality watches for low prices. Between 1878 and 1926 the company won prizes at exhibitions in Paris, Melbourne, Geneva, Milan, Stockholm and Barcelona; from 1926 on it received awards from the observatories in Neuchâtel, Kew-Teddington and Geneva.
After World War I., another arm was added to the Maltese cross that was the company’s original trademark - a sign of respect for the Muslim market; the new Cortébert symbol became known all over the world. Around the same time Cortébert began supplying large robust watches to Poland’s railway employees; about two decades later deck watches were delievered to the German navy - some of them with luminous dials for the use on submarines.

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