White gold Chronometer no. 70306

Case: White gold, snap on back Dial: Silvered, arabic numerals changing from 0-11 to 12-23, signed "Haas Neveux & Cie., Geneve", blued steel Breguet hands, subsidiary seconds dial. Movement: nickel, bi-metallic balance with flat blued steel balance spring with polished steel kidney piece, hanging mainspring barrel, stamped with Geneva seal Provenance: 19?? - Haas Neveux, Geneve 2011 - Antiquorum, 27 Mar 2011, sold for CHF 4,500, "Haas Neveux White Gold Jumping 24-Hour Dress Watch Haas Neveux & Cie, Genève, No. 70306. Made circa 1920. Very fine and extremely rare, 18K white gold keyless Art-Deco dress watch with jumping 24-hour numerals. Three-body, "bassine pincee" polished, triangular bow. Matte silver, apertures for the jumping hours showing 0-11 in the morning and 12-23 from noon, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel Breguet hands. 17''', rhodium-plated, fausses côtes decoration, punched twice with the seal of Geneva quality mark, 18 jewels, straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator. Dial and case signed, movement and case numbered. Diam. 45 mm. Notes This fascinating watch has the extremely unusual feature whereby the entire 12 numerals "jump" at 12 o'clock. In the morning the dial shows 0 to 11 o'clock and at midday the numerals jump to 12 to 23 hours. Haas Neveux was renowned for their high-grade watches, most,including this watch, receiving chronometer rating. They were the first company to make watches with "digital" perpetual calendar to a design by Robert Cart. The present watch is a fine example of the Haas Neveux company’s ingenuity.