dress watch vintage L. Leroy & Cie Rectangular Dress Watch

dress watch vintage L. Leroy & Cie Rectangular Dress WatchL. Leroy & Cie is a French manufacturer with real watchmaking prowess and credibility, but is lesser known in the greater watch community. Founded in the late 18th Century in an era where another French brand, Breguet, was also conceived, L. Leroy & Cie enjoys a rich history with a number of horological accolades, including the most complicated timepiece in the world until it was dethroned by Patek Philippe's Calibre 89 in 1989. The L. Leroy that we

L. Leroy & Cie is a French manufacturer with real watchmaking prowess and credibility, but is lesser-known in the greater watch community. Founded in the late 18th Century in an era where another French brand, Breguet, was also conceived, L. Leroy & Cie enjoys a rich history with a number of horological accolades, including the most complicated timepiece in the world until it was dethroned by Patek Philippe's Calibre 89 in 1989.

The L. Leroy that we have here is a simply beautiful rectangular dress watch from circa the 1920s. The case comes in at wonderfully-size 25mm x 32mm, with 'wire' lugs, a flat crown, and thats it. Simple and elegant. It remains in likely unpolished condition, with clear hallmarks and engravings and shows normal signs of wear from age otherwise. The dial inside is beautifully preserved, showing only light wear around the edges with a largely clean silver surface. It bears a painted black 'railroad' minute track on the outside edge and what may be some of the coolest indices we have ever seen... If you could fuse classic 'Breguet' and 'Art Deco' styles together we light to think that this might be the result. The handset is a blued-steel 'Breguet' set, which compliments the dial beautifully. 

Accompanying this piece is it's box, some original components likely replaced and returned during previous service, and a copy of the original order receipt, with itemized options. This indicates that this could be a special order piece and a unique configuration.

This piece, like all L. Leroy & Cie., is flat out rare. Praised by connoisseurs and those that know, this is a very rare opportunity to acquire a piece that simply do not surface on the open market with any regularity.