Rare Silver MYSTERY Pocket Watch by Armond Schwob. Circa 1890

This is a very rare silver pocket watch made by the company Armond Schwob circa 1890.

This “Mystery” pocket watch has an inner wheel made of glass with teeth. You wind the watch up as normal and the train wheel rotate the glass wheel.

The glass wheel sits between two plates of glass which protect the dial and hand area

The watch is wound manually but you have to move the hands manually with your finger tips, subsequently these watches should not really be used on a regular basis as the hands are delicate and if the glass wheel should break, the watch is un repairable

This watch does work well but gains around 10 minutes in 24 hours and sold as a novelty timepiece and with no warranty should it be broken by the buyer.

For those familiar with this type of watch this is a slightly different variant with a very attractive herringbone pattern engraved back and front

Movement – the small cylinder movement is numbered 2568. The movement is in 90% mint condition – very clean condition with just some small marks on the winding wheels

Case – the movement comes in a silver open face case, which has a hinged bezel and back bezel. The front bezel pops open by pressing down a button on the side. You change the hands from this side. This section is signed “A.S & F, Mysterieuse, Brevete S.G.D.G.”

The back bezel opens by hand to reveal a hinged silver inner cover decorated with very fine herringbone engraving.

The case has a smooth plain finish and is in 90% mint condition – 1small bruise

Dial– the glass dial has gold enamel numbers and gilt hands. The dial is in 95% mint condition - mint condition.

The watch comes with a modern watch stand as displayed with a owl motif and Perspex base

The watch has a glass back and front

The watch measures 51mm wide x 15mm deep

The watch is stem wound and you use your fingers to delicately set the hands