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Lot Essay
The present is an extremely rare and highly complicated large watch made by the founders of Omega, Louis Brandt & Frère. Very few watches by the Brandt Company of this quality and complication are known publically. The present example is furthermore preserved in excellent overall condition. The substantial 57 millimeter gold case encloses the highly finished minute repeating movement with perpetual calendar, chronograph and moon phases. It is also fitted with the unusual feature of a central minute register hand instead of the more commonly found subsidiary type register. The beautiful original and untouched silvered dial contrasts perfectly with the yellow gold indexes and hands.
Louis Brandt & Frère
In 1848, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Louis Brandt, watchmaker, started his own manufacture. I 1880 a new manufacture was established in Bienne called Louis Brandt & Fils when eldest son Louis-Paul joined the business. Within ten years, the manufacture had become the largest in Switzerland. From 1891 the company was renamed Louis Brandt & Frère when both Louis-Paul and younger brother César joined the business. At that time, the Brandt brothers introduced new production techniques, mechanization and automation, transforming the small-series manufacture of watches into industrial-scale production. In 1894 they changed their name to Omega, named after their first watch. This name also conveyed quality because Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and means "perfection".
Louis Brandt & Frère
In 1848, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Louis Brandt, watchmaker, started his own manufacture. I 1880 a new manufacture was established in Bienne called Louis Brandt & Fils when eldest son Louis-Paul joined the business. Within ten years, the manufacture had become the largest in Switzerland. From 1891 the company was renamed Louis Brandt & Frère when both Louis-Paul and younger brother César joined the business. At that time, the Brandt brothers introduced new production techniques, mechanization and automation, transforming the small-series manufacture of watches into industrial-scale production. In 1894 they changed their name to Omega, named after their first watch. This name also conveyed quality because Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and means "perfection".