This watch approaches the outer limits of miniaturization, and can be considered one of the smallest in the entire world. We know of only two others, one of which was made by Patek Philippe in 1850 (No. 3503). It measured 9,02 mm, and was shown at the London Universal Exhibition of 1851, figuring in the Official Catalogue of the Exhibition. Long considered the smallest watch in the world, its movement has unfortunately been lost; only the case and dial remain today. The other, by Charles Oudin and measuring the same as this watch at 14 mm, was sold by Antiquorum Geneva, The Sandberg Watch Collection, March 31, 2001, Lot 338. Philippe Auguste Courvoisier (1803-1873). Was at times associated with Courvoisier & Co. and also with Courvoisier Frères, but he also signed clocks and watches in his own name. He was no longer associated with those companies after 1852. The making of miniature watches has always been a challenge for watchmakers. Many have vied with each other to produce ever smaller mechanisms enabling them to boast of making "The World's Smallest Watch". The earliest known surviving example is a tiny gold and enamel clockwatch by an unknown German maker dating from circa 1610. This remarkable watch had once belonged to Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia (The Winter Queen) and was sold as part of the Harcourt Collection at Sotheby's London in 1992. In the 18th Century, one of the smallest watches to be made was by the Viennese maker Philipp Voter of Wien in around 1760 and sold at Antiquorum, 14th November 2004, Lot 320. Another, by J. Thierry, London, circa 1770 and containing one of the smallest verge watch movements ever made was sold at Antiquorum, Geneva, 11th & 12th April 1992. Breguet famously made a small number of miniature watches with keyless winding, these watches measuring only 18 mm. were certainly the smallest watches with keyless winding and hand-setting produced by any firm before the mid- 19th Century. An example was sold by Antiquorum Geneva on 20th October 1991, Lot 263. The world's smallest tourbillon by Fritz-Andre Robert Charrue of Le Locle and dated 1945 was sold at Antiquorum, 12th April 2003, Lot 559.