Heirloom watch research

[cghale]

I have a family Heirloom watch that I am starting to do some research on. It's a Chronometer with Swiss moving parts a 14K gold case, w/ a gold inner dust-cover and has a separate glass cover over the back of the works. The signature on the dial face is 'Leonville Locle'. I can't seem to find anything out about that watchmaker. It runs beautifully. I think it's circa about 1910. Is there anything anyone can tell me about the maker or where to pursue my research?

CGH

[cghale]

I have a family Heirloom watch that I am starting to do some research on. It's a Chronometer with Swiss moving parts a 14K gold case, w/ a gold inner dust-cover and has a separate glass cover over the back of the works. The signature on the dial face is 'Leonville Locle'. I can't seem to find anything out about that watchmaker. It runs beautifully. I think it's circa about 1910. Is there anything anyone can tell me about the maker or where to pursue my research?

CGH

[Kimo]

There are a great many brands of Swiss watches of varying quality of that era. The reputation for Swiss made watches being finely made is relatively recent though there were some nice ones back then.

I don't know about the particular maker you mention, but I notice in the archives of another watch website there are three postings on two different makers going by the name "Leonville" in Le Locle (the Swiss city where many watch companies were (still are) based. This other website is run out of Britain and they tend to be pretty knowledgable about the European made brands: http://www.clockswatches.com/libl.htm I don't know what is in those old postings so I can't say whether they will be helpful to you, but if you would like to get access to view them you will need to make a token contribution to the guy who runs that site. He requires that to help him pay for his costs to keep his website up and running.

One other thought, if it is an exceptional watch of museum quality you may want to try to contact the Le Locle watch museum and ask them if they might share any information they might have. You might do best to write them in French, though they likely have a person or two who can get by in English if writing in French is not an option for you. I've always found that when asking favors of people it is best to try to write to them in their own language. Anyway, here is a link to the people who are in charge at the "Musee International D'Horologerie" http://www.mih.ch/contacts/index.htm

[cghale]

Thank-you for the information. It's proven to be very helpful.

CGH

[Kimo]

Excellent! Let us know what you discover in your research. Sharing information is the purpose of this forum.