PATEK PHILIPPE & CIE., GENÈVE | A FINE GOLD HUNTING CASED LEVER WATCH WITH ENAMEL IMPERIAL ARMS OF EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEPH OF AUSTRIA, RETAILED BY A. BACHRUCH, BUDAPEST1901, MOVEMENT NO. 117.404, CASE NO. 227.698

Movement: 19''' frosted gilded, moustache lever, wolf's tooth winding, bi-metallic compensation balance, signed and numbered Patek Philippe & Cie, No.117404   Dial: white enamel, sunken centre, Arabic numerals, outer minute ring, recessed subsidiary seconds, blued steel moon hands, signed Patek Philippe & Cie, Genève  Case: 18ct gold, full hunter, stepped bezels, the front with champlevé enamel, translucent and polychrome enamel painted monogram and crown of the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, cuvette engraved Faite pour la maison A. Bachruch, Four. de la cour Imp. & Roy, Budapest, and signed and numbered Patek Philippe & Cie, Genève, No.117404, with unusual linear stepped crown, inside case back and cuvette numbered 227698, inside front numbered 98

Sotheby's Geneva, 19 November 1991, lot 82

Accompanied by an Extract from the Archives confirming production in 1901 and sale on 26 November the same year. The extract notes: "case with painted coat of arms and initials". Antal Bachruch was an important silver and jewellery retailer and importer, located in Budapest at the turn of 19th and 20th centuries.

Franz Joseph 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916 was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia from 1848 until his death, making him one of the longest serving monarchs to date. In the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War, his empire was divided into a Dual Monarchy, in which Austria and Hungary coexisted and were ruled equally. In 1914, following the assassination of his nephew and heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Franz Joseph issued an ultimatum to Serbia which essentially led Austria and Germany into World War I.