Tavannes for Dunhill - A 9ct gold 'La Captive' desk watch, circa 1929, the tandem signed cream coloured square dial, 18mm wide with (originally) luminous Arabic numerals and blued spade and syringe hands, 15 jewel mechanical crown wind movement signed TAVANNES WATCH CO decorated with 'The Côtes de Genève', numbered 90906, rectangular case, 45 x 33mm, decorated with engine turned engraving, the spring loaded short edges operating the pair of piano hinged 'doors' to reveal the dial within a piano hinged square case, 21 x 21mm, verso snap on, plain and polished, inner part marked and numbered 30, inner of main case numbered 829925, with Glasgow import marks for 9ct gold and sponsor's mark of Schwob Frères & Co., additionally marked MEOAN JC BREVETTE DEPOSE between the Swiss Federal cross, suspension ring to the top, 44.6g gross Tavannes Watch Company is a Swiss watch brand dating back to 1891, founded by Henri-Frédéric Sandoz in Tavannes, Switzerland. The business was an immediate success and by 1905 the company employed 750 employees and was producing 450,000 watches. During the late 1920s, it designed radical new styles of timepiece such as this example, “La Captive”, and a 'Belt-Watch', both of which were considered completely new concepts. By this time, there were already five Tavannes Watch Company factories in Switzerland and it had become the fourth largest watch manufacturer in the world, producing over 4,000 watches a day. After the Second World War, and with over 300 patents obtained for mechanical and automatic timepieces, Tavannes produced movements for most of the famous Swiss brands including Patek Philippe, Zenith and Jaeger LeCoultre. Many of these innovations are still used today. In 2008 the company was relaunched, and in 2018 a new ‘La Captive Belt Watch’ was announced. The new design allows the timepiece to be worn as a wrist watch, golf belt watch or a desk watch, all inspired by the history and design of this original timepiece.