1,750 CHF
UNION HORLOGÈRE, PRESENTATION WATCH FOR KAISER WILHELM II OF GERMANY Union Horlogère, Bienne-Genève, case No. 178293, retailed by F. Schwenkau & Jnh. A. Bauer, Königl Hoflieferant (Royal Purveyor), Potsdam. Made for presentation by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, circa 1910. Fine and rare, silver, hunting-cased, keyless pocket watch engraved with the cipher of Wilhelm II. Four-body, bassine, polished, the front cover engraved with a foliate letter “W” beneath a crown, the cipher of Wilhelm II. Hinged silver cuvette. White enamel with Breguet numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Pink gold Louis XV hands. 18’’’, matte gilt, 15 jewels, straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator. Dial case and movement signed, cuvette signed by the retailer. The case punched with Swiss and German hallmarks. Diam. 52 mm. Notes Presentation watches from Kaiser Wilhelm II are rare, the present watch is in particularly good condition. Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) The last Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm II ruled the German Empire from 1888 until 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria, and related to many kings and princes around Europe. Crowned in 1888 he dismissed the Chancellor, PrinceOtto von Bismarck in 1890 and launched Germany on a "New Course" in foreign affairs, culminating in his support for Austria in the crisis of the summer of 1914 that caused World War I. Bombastic and impetuous,
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2011-11-13
