Hass Neveux & Cie. Is one of the oldest manufactures of Switzerland. The firm Haas Neveux & Cie. succeeded to the firm B. Haas Jne which was created in 1848. Haas Neveux & Cie. created the extra-flat watch with winding mechanism, provoking a revolution in watchmaking. The firm sought to make their watches more elegant by making them flatter. At the Geneva Exhibition of 1896, they exhibited the first extra-flat watch, with a movement only two millimeters thick. While they devoted a great deal of attention to the decoration of their watches, in the form of pendants, bracelets, rings, etc., Haas Neveux & Cie. always remained at the forefront of the making of high-precision chronometers, obtaining prizes at the competition of the Geneva Observatory. In this contest, one of its chronometers won 879 points, a result that was never again attained until 1925, and remains the world record for adjustment. Since its foundation, Haas Neveux & Cie. took part in all the international exhibitions and won the highest prizes. ?Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois? by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum Editions, Geneva, 1998. The present watch is one of the smallest minute repeaters ever made, and was sold by Antiquorum on March 31 and April 1, 2001, lot 99. Provenance. Lord Sandberg Collection, published in the Sandberg book, page 222-223. Miniaturization in horology began in the 14th century, when table clocks became so small that they could be carried. They looked like 15th century round table clocks but were smaller. This, in course, led to watches, which in the beginning were actually small, wearable clocks. Their popularity grew very quickly. Once the fashion of wearing watches was established, makers rivaled with each other for their miniaturization. Only the best, of course, could fit all the necessary parts in a small area, but some succeeded beyond expectations. By 1518 watchmakers were able to make movements so small that they could be placed within the hilt of a dagger. Some such pieces were made for Francois I of France, for which he paid a small fortune. Approximately fifty years later a watch was placed in a ring for Elizabeth I of England; it also possessed a curious alarm system, which pricked the Queen gently in the finger (Breguet used this system in his alarm rings 250 years later). By the early 17th century, miniaturization was in full bloom. A German maker produced a small stackfreed watch with a movement measuring only 10 mm, less than 4 '''! This watch is in the Musée International d?Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and is attributed to Johann Ulrich Schmidt of Augsburg. Others were not far behind, as is proved by an enamel, turquoise and diamond watch signed Josephus Norris, Amsterdam, in a private collection, whose fusee movement measures only 13.7 mm. in diameter. These were unique examples; still, they give eloquent testimony that miniaturization had been achieved. Only the best watchmakers could make miniature watches, and they were paid handsomely for them. As previously mentioned, as early as the 1580s, watchmakers were fascinated with the idea of fitting a watch into a ring. Only a few succeeded. In the early days, successful attempts ended up on a King?s or Prince?s finger, or that of a prelate. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art there is a very early ring watch, dating from about 1560 and signed I.W. The Mantua archives contain a letter from James Widman to the Duke of Mantua concerning three ring watches, and it is quite possible that one of them is the one in the Metropolitan Museum. In about 1650, Johann Ulrich Schmidt of Augsburg made a ring watch for the Elector Johann Friedrich. About the same time Votter made this watch - the smallest watch in Vienna. In 1764, the young John Arnold presented an extraordinary ring watch to King George III of England. It was a half quarter repeater, less than two centimeters in diameter and had 120 parts. The watch brought fame to Arnold and established him as a very capable watchmaker. Czar Paul I of Russia offered Arnold double what George III had paid - already a small fortune of £500 - but Arnold refused.