Gold Repeating Watch no. 15688

Case: Gold, hunting, winding by the cover Dial: White enamel displaying two time zones Movement: Nickel, bi-metallic balance with blued steel balance spring with polished steel kidney piece, lever with capped pivots, quarter repeating Provenance: 18?? - Haas Neveux, Geneve ???? - Private collection, California, prior to 2017 2017 - Horological Times magazine Mar 2017, " Question Quarter Hour Repeater with Dual Time Please tell me what you can about this watch. Inside the front cover in a semicircle is “B. H. J. Co.” and a “G,” also the Swiss hallmark for 18K.750, and also 88, which is the last two digits of the No. 15688 that is in the back cover. The movement—jeweled lever escapement type—has an extra wheel driven off of the center wheel, probably for the dual time. The balance, fork, and escape wheel have cap jewels. If the lower plate is jeweled the same as the upper, the movement has 35 jewels. Twelve of which are in the repeating part. The mainspring is wound by moving the front cover open and closed, when wound up it just moves freely. The setting lever is located at the 2 o’clock position outside the bezel. Could it be a Le Phare ebauche? Could you please try and identify it as who made the movement and the case, also about when it was made. The complete watch weighs about 4 1/2 ounces. Merlin Meyer, M& M Repair, Orcutt, CA Answer When I learned, through Maureen Seals at AWCI, that you found out that the “BHJ” on the back of your watch case was Benjamin Haas Jeune & Co and that the initial G stands for Geneva, I was able to learn more about your watch. Benjamin Haas, then in Besançon, France, won a bronze medal at the Paris Universal Exposition in 1867. A bit later he invented a form of winding where the mainspring was wound by opening the front cover of a hunting case watch. For this invention he received British Patent #3945, December 2, 1873. This patent was licensed by him to other makers as well. The company excelled in unique and exceptional timepieces. By 1880 the company was located in Geneva, Paris, and Besançon, and they called themselves manufacturers. In 1907 the firm changed its name to Haas Neveux & Cie., and continued making fine and complicated watches until around 1939. As an additional note, a fine Benjamin Haas Jeune pocket chronograph repeater was sold by Christie’s in 2013. David Christianson, Researcher