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This is
a Cartier 18kt gold gentleman’s
dress pocket watch which was made
in Paris, circa 1920. The case which
housed the movement was made from
a solid piece of rock crystal quartz
which had been faceted and machined
to accept the movement. The jeweler
who was having the repair work done
learned that only a very small number
of these watches had been made in
the Cartier shop. He was told that
the quartz case may have been made
using specially designed tools for
the project which are no longer available.
Photo #3 shows an inset rim or groove
into which a slip ring was inserted.
This concave groove needed to be perfectly
round and of exact tolerances and
contour for the slip ring to fit.
The movement was then to be dropped
into place within and on top of the
slip ring. The slip ring had 6 places
to accept screws. The movement was
then screwed to the slip ring which
held the movement in place. The rock
crystal also needed 3 drill holes
from the outer edge to the inner edge.
One for the stem to pass through and
two for the brackets of the bail over
the stem.
The outer
dimensions of the watch case measures
1 ¾" x 1 ¾". The thickness
of the quartz is 4.0 mm and the thinnest
part in the center is .9 mm.
The back
of the watch case acts as a quartz
window through which the inner mechanical
workings of the movement can be viewed.
I wish I had a picture of that, it
was impressive.
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