Patek Philippe minute repeating pocket watch

Patek Philippe & Co. Geneva / Merrick, Walsh & Phelps, St. Louis, Missouri, 52 mm, 128 g, circa 1893

Minute repeating hunting case pocket watch - made for Adjudant George T. Cram on order from jewellers Merrick, Walsh & Phelps, St. Louis, Missouri - with original box and Extract from the Archives.

Case: 18k rose gold, tiered, engraved monogram "G.T.C", à goutte, numbered and signed gold dome, slide for repeating mechanism.

Dial: enamel, letters "GEORGE T. CRAM" for the hour markers, auxiliary seconds, dated 1893, blued spade hands.

Movm.: bridge movement, rhodium-plated, "fausses côtes" decoration, signed, 2 hammers / 2 gongs, wolfteeth winding wheels, gold screw compensation balance, counterpoised lever.

There are only very few watches produced by Patek Philippe where the dials have letters instead of numerals. Pierre Reymond, who created the dial of the watch we have here, was one of the best dial makers of his time in Switzerland; this was why Patek Philippe commissioned him to make the dials of some of their most outstanding watches.

George T. Cram

George T. Cram served in the Americal Civil War on the side of the Union; a member of the Missouri Commandery, he entered the first New Hampshire cavalry as a second Lieutenant. During the war he rose to the rank of Adjutant of the Rhode Island First Cavalry. At the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 he held the position of an inspector.