1900s Longines 18kt Enamel Royal Kensington Gardens Swans Pendant Pocket Watch

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1900s Longines 18kt Enamel Royal Kensington Gardens Swans Pendant Pocket Watch

About the Item

A Rare & very unique 1900s Longines 5 -Time Grand Prix World Exhibition Award Winning Miniature Enamel Enamel Work Designed in the Impressionist Style of a “Feeding of the Swans at The Royal Kensington Gardens” Enamel Motif Pendant & Pocket Watch , Fully signed & serial numbered Throughout CASE DIMENSIONS & SPECIFICATIONS - 35 mm From Case Pendant Bottom to Top of The Bow x 28mm across - Triple Signed & Matching Serial #’s throughout the case, cuvette and movement - Hand painted Breguet Enamel Dial with Hand Painted Baton Marker Minute Track - Dual enamel Art Forms including polychrome enameling and champleve enameling to produce impression style scene of the famous tourist location of the Royal Kensington Gardens in London where many in this period are painted feeding swans along the London River - Complication of a sub second located at the 6 positions - Steel Blue Hand Painted Fancy Beetle Poker Hour Hands - Dust Cover marks the 5 time grand prix winning status for winning in the World Fairs in Paris twice, Milan, Anvers & Bruxelle and further dated with date September 1st 1914 as the superior timepiece in its category for timekeeping and decoration - One of the 1st examples produced by the firm under the original Longine’s Founder Francillon & Co - Recently Serviced & Also in Perfect Working & Original Condition with No Enamel loss CATALOG NOTE The present timepiece is one of the earliest known examples of its kind by the firm and as indicated on the present examples cuvette is one of the most premier examples produced by the firm during Longines’ golden age where the present example won 5 grand prix awards when the firm was also considered the most elite timepiece and enamel pendant watch manufacturer in the world as they were also celebrated as the Official royal watch supplier to His Majesty Sultan Mehmed V. during this period for their enamel & engineering capabilities being recognized and celebrated as the world’s most honored watch maker thereafter. Throughout the world, no other name on a watch meant so much as Longines in this period as they outcompeted and were known to out engineer other leading firms such as Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and many others in the Paris Milan and other world exhibitions in this timeframe and were the winner of 10 of the world’s fair grand prizes and 28 gold Medals- more than any other watch brand at the time. Longines as a result in this timeframe became one of the most important companies in Swiss watch manufacturing as a result of their newly innovated technology and patents which allowed for state of the art creations such as the present example when produced from 1880-1920. There watch making became legendary in this period as one of the most important Swiss watch manufacturer of all time. What separated Longines from other manufacturers the philosophy behind the timepieces they were producing. Instead of the more conventional approach, Longines believed that the engineering and concept was so different from the other watch firms as they focused on advanced and integrated production methods which no other firm was able to re-create due to limited technology. Meaning Longines recognized the element of creating timepieces which allowed for the parts to be interchangeable into different types of timepieces which gave them a tremendous advantage no other timepiece firm sought out at this time…for example a pendant watch such as the present example could also have its mechanism re-tooled and turned into a wristwatch in a different case in this using the same mechanism. This legendary innovation in watchmaking during this time frame gave the brand a worldwide success as they earned their spot on the forefront of watch making and enameling and were deemed the world’s finest swiss watchmakers. In this period, because the firm primarily focused on mens’ pocket watches, there was only a very limited production of enamel scenes which were producing and at this time primarily for their most important clients as they were very costly and took much longer to produce. Enamels such as the present example were designed with specific motifs and usually of famous tourist destinations as displayed in some of the photos of other examples. The present example which is designed with one of the most legendary motifs of the popular tourist location “the royal Kensington gardens of London” where many would go during this timeframe to feed the swans pulls from this inspiration and is designed with two different styles of enameling including the art of polychrome enameling on the outer edges and cloisonne enameling to the center to produce the miniature enamel with an impressionist art style that was being famously introduced in the art world for the first time by Claude Monet at the same time the present example was being commissioned making the present example very unique enamel to collect compared to other enamel pendant watches overall. As demonstrated with the present examples inside hallmarks, the concept became award winning as a result in all the exhibitions and immediately set the firm off to a trajectory which would made it the worlds most honored timepiece manufacturer beating all the other major manufacturers at the time. In addition, the impressionist movement was being introduced simultaneous to the creation of the present timepiece and made its art style one of the most acclaimed examples by its founder Claude Monet and other iconic painters of the period such as Auguste Renoir, Monet and Pizzaro to name a few which were commonly known for their unique style of painting in the impressionist style. The present style also featured on the enamel which goal is to paint a scene with the goal of capturing how light would interact with the subject and often through the use of thick strokes was easily identifiable style which never before was introduced until the early 1900s. Additionally interesting to note, is that during this timeframe the royal gardens of kensington just outside of london was a very famous tourist destination many of the impressionist painters would visit and even move to at the start of the franco prussian war to capture landscapes of the iconic royal swans which the area was best known for making it a perfect subject matter for an enamel work of art such as the present example as longines artistry portrays. Not only in the areas of décor by deploying such a unique motif, but also because of its engineering and ability with interchangeability, miniature enamel Longines such as the present example were placed into competitions in the different regions listed on the cuvette and further confirmed the winner of 5 grand prix events as the superior timekeeper in both enameling artistry for innovating state of the art design concepts as well as engineering with the movement. The brand became an instant leader after these first world exhibitions where the present example was commissioned and competed for. In the regions such as Paris, the present example would compete against other leading design firms such as Patek Philippe or Vacheron Constantin and won and in areas such as Bruxelle they competed against Alange Sohne which was also a very prominent firm- each time winning its own category. As the first, Longines were built and introduced into the World Exhibitions of the 1900s in Milan and Paris among others, Agassiz another prominent Swiss watchmaker gave his financial support to his nephew Ernest Francillon who believed in this new philosophy of watchmaking. The earliest founders were also responsible for producing the present timepiece who started the company in 1865 when the company Longines was first established. The concept of the company was so different at the time because it was specifically meant to build the world’s most prominent and efficient timepiece mechanisms using newly invented commercial machinery which was simply never implemented before by anyone else. Typically, traditional watchmakers did not value mass production concepts because as an engineer would be far more difficult to produce a concept for a timekeeping device that would be so interchangeable but somehow Longines mastered it. Longines not only figured out how to make parts interchangeable using automatic machinery for the first time and which also had the highest level of accuracy, but the firm also deployed the most innovative techniques in the art of enameling as they worked closely with Tiffany & co and many of the world’s best miniature enamellers at the time to introduce the brand as the most modern watchmakers of the world producing highly accurate and carefully planned out timepieces that were unmatched by anyone other maker far before the other firms could catch up. Eventually Longines, became known as the official supplier to All of the New Officials in Sports as their timepieces were the most accurate and versatile to use to measure time and as a result of their abilities in the early 1880s and 1900s when the present timepiece was engineered, they were official suppliers to gamblers and bettors at the horse race tracks. Managing time was extremely important to be able to bet on the horses and not only were the bettors needing to observe the time but also the riders and the officials. Additionally, notable the present timepiece has been offered before in public and is also in excellent condition with no enamel loss and recently serviced which is remarkable given its nearly 120 year age. For additional photos or video- please do not hesitate to ask….

Creator:
Longines
Case Material:
18k Gold,Enamel
Movement:
Case Dimensions:
Width: 1.38 in (35 mm)Length: 1.11 in (28 mm)
Style:
Art Nouveau
Place of Origin:
Switzerland
Period:
1900-1909
Date of Manufacture:
1906
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
New york, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1212313880832