Gebr. Eppner, Berlin

A GOLD AND ENAMEL HALF-HUNTING CASED KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH ARMS AND ENGRAVED PORTRAIT BUST OF PRINCE WALDEMAR OF PRUSSIA CIRCA 1905

• Movement: frosted gilded bar, lever escapement, bi-metallic compensation balance, swan-neck regulation, wolf's tooth winding, unsigned
• Dial: white enamel, Arabic numerals, outer Arabic minute ring, gilt filigree hands, sunken subsidiary seconds, signed Gebr. Eppner, Berlin
• Case: 14ct pink gold, polished covers, the front with glazed aperture surrounded by blue enamel Roman numerals and minute track, back with Prince Waldemar's engraved and blue, black and red enamelled monogram beneath a crown, hand-set lever beneath bezel at 4 o'clock, gold cuvette chased and engraved with a portrait bust of Prince Waldemar and engraved "Dem Prinzen Waldemar von Preussen zur Einsegnung, 28 Maerz 1905", case maker's mark F & H within a shield, case and cuvette numbered 29141
diameter 54mm

Provenance:
Gebr. Eppner was a firm based in Berlin that both made their own watches and retailed pieces made by other manufacturers. Several members of the German aristocracy commissioned pieces from them, including Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Prince Waldemar of Prussia (1889-1945), like his first cousin Alexei Romanov, suffered from haemophilia. In 1945 towards the end of World War II, he and his wife fled the advance of the Russian Army to Tutzing Bavaria. They arrived on April 30th, and the U.S Army invaded the area the next day. Medical supplies were immediately diverted to treat concentration camp victims nearby, thus preventing Waldemar from receiving the blood transfusions he vitally needed. As a result, he died a day later, on May 2nd, 1945.