Thèvenaz Frères Silver Open Face Pocket Watch with Attached Folding Keys, 1870

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Integrated folding keys set into the movement squares distinguish this open-face pocket watch, offering a clever alternative to carrying a … Read more Integrated folding keys set into the movement squares distinguish this open-face pocket watch, offering a clever alternative to carrying a separate winding key. Fitted directly onto the winding and hand-setting arbors, the small silver turnbuckles pivot upward for winding and setting, then lie flat within tailored apertures across the silver cuvette. While aftermarket conversion keys were patented and sold in the era, this watch features factory-integrated keys accommodated by bespoke circular openings cut into the matching engine-turned dust cover. The silver case measures 43 mm in diameter and exhibits crisp engine-turned geometric engraving across the rear cover and outer rim. A central shield cartouche on the back lid remains unengraved, framed by delicate scrollwork. Inside, the cuvette displays continuous engine-turned decoration, while the hinged back cover retains early stamped numerical marks. A sturdy spherical pendant and bow crown the case, flanked by an accessible lip for opening the rear bezel. Behind the front bezel sits a clean white enamel dial signed 'Thèvenaz Frères Genève' beneath the twelve. It displays slender black Roman numeral hour indices, a peripheral railway-style minute track, and finely blued steel spade and pointer hands. The crisp enamel surface creates a bright, high-contrast display preserved beneath the glazed front bezel. The watch is powered by a Swiss gilt bar movement with a suspended going barrel, produced in Geneva circa 1870. The escapement incorporates a polished steel cylinder, matching escape wheel, a plain three-arm gilt balance, and a blued steel spiral hairspring beneath an unadorned balance cock with a polished steel index regulator. The gilt plates carry the maker's signature, and the movement is reported to be in full working order. See less