Antique Russian Imperial Presentation Gold Pocket Watch by Pavel Bure (Paul Buhre), circa 1899.

Diameter 1 15/16 in. (4,9 cm). Weight 3,2 oz (92 g)

Excellent condition.

The lid is enameled with a double headed Imperial eagle.

Very fine enamel work. Enamel is completely intact.

The black Imperial eagle is bigger and of finer quality than similar eagles on later watches.

Pavel Bure
St. Petersburg and Moscow

It is a rare variety of dial inscription. Most dials are signed with maker’s name only.

It is a RARE early model of Pavel Bure (Paul Buhre) pocket watch with a very low serial number 6373.

It is also one of the earliest Buhre (Bure) watches with inscription on the movement’s cover:

Pavel Bure

Supplier of His Majesty’s Court

The inscription on this particular watch has each line written in a different font. It is a rare early variety of the inscription. Majority of Buhre watches have that inscription done in Italic font (a stylized calligraphic handwriting).

The firm was granted the title of Imperial Court Supplier in 1899.

The case is marked with 14K (583 gold) Swiss standard.

The Paul Buhre firm was founded in 1815 in St. Petersburg. In 1874, the firm acquired a large watch factory in Le Locle, Switzerland.

All watches sold by Buhre in Russia, through firm’s two shops in St. Petersburg and Moscow, were made at that factory in Switzerland.

The firm received two Grand Gold medals – one in 1896 in Geneva, another in 1900 at the Paris World Fair.

Watches with Russian Imperial eagle were made strictly by the order of the Czarist Court. Such watches were never sold to general public and they were not featured in the firm’s price lists of the period.

For more information on Russian Imperial presentation pieces see THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL AWARD SYSTEM 1894-1917 by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm, Helsinki 2005 (text in English)

The watch comes with its original red leather case.

Recommended Reference Literature:

Presentation, Award and Prize Pocket Watches of the Russian Empire

published in 2011, text in Russian, 79 watches illustrated in color