Rare Gouvernail: DoubleSigned Diamonds & Rubys Helm, Wittnauer

WHY WE LOVE IT? Is it the earliest "The Helm"? Well, Cartier started to make its classic (Helm / Ronde Squelette / Timone / Gouvernail -- you name it) in the late 1930s -- approx 4y later than this 1935-made -- and so besides being a beautiful and interesting pocketwatch it is a historical & spicy one on top: the blueprint and model for the Cartier-Helm? Besides that historical relevance it is a beautiful and iconic pocketwatch and an important horological artefact: doublesigned by the relevant US-jeweler "Bailey Banks & Biddle", Philadelphia.

We all know the so popular Cartier Helm / Gouvernail / Timone with the first examples appearing at the end of the 1930s and most in the 1950s and 1960s. Such a unique Cartier-desing, right? Maybe not. The Cartier-pocketwatch (platinum, super-rare) on the last photo on the left was made in 1955, for example. Beautiful, yes. But this Longines-timepiece is very similar, also made of platinum and was made in 1935 according to the included Excerpt of the Longines-Archive: diamonds, rubys and pure Art Deco. And there are even more similarities: they both share the same dimensions, the same dial (a railroad-minutetrack) and more often than not the exact same hands. #SameOrDifferent? Amazing & Surprising.

A Cartier like this watch in platinum and similar quality, with original dial (which most Cartiers dont have today anymore, very obviously) and documentation (Excerpt of Archive) would be an amazing find and worth a crazy price...

According to the information from the Longines-Archive the watch-movement was sold by Longines to Wittnauer Co., their agent in the USA. There the case was produced under license of Longines and the dial is doublesigned by the popular US-based jeweler "Bailey Banks & Biddle" -- a Cartier of the early 20th century in the United States. About their importance in that era ex Wikipedia: "At the turn of the century, Bailey Banks & Biddle was commissioned by the U.S. government to update the Great Seal of the United States; its design today remains the official version of the seal. The company also designed and made many of the military medals that are still used today, including the Medal of Honor, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Spanish Campaign Medal and the first 40,000 Purple Hearts awarded, as well as class rings for West Point and Annapolis."