Mercedes-signed vintage 14K yellow gold Art Deco hidden-dial manual wind watch bracelet featuring a gem-set dial cover with round ruby horseshoe motif and round brilliant diamond accents, a chevron-pattern gold bracelet, and ruby and diamond station accents at the lugs and wrist closure, measuring 18mm wide and 6.5 inches total length, weighing 47.7 grams.

Mercedes was a distinguished American fine jewelry and watch atelier of the mid-20th century, celebrated for producing signed luxury watch bracelets that blurred the line between functional timepiece and wearable jewelry — pieces that were as much about the gem-set bracelet as the watch concealed within. The hidden watch bracelet format — in which the watch dial is completely concealed beneath an ornate gem-set cover that opens to reveal the dial — was the height of feminine luxury watch design during the Art Deco and Retro periods of the 1930s through 1950s, favored by women who wanted a timepiece that read as pure jewelry rather than announcing its function. Mercedes signed pieces from this era are consistently collected for their design sophistication, their gold and gemstone content, and their status as wearable artifacts of American mid-century jewelry-making at its most ambitious. This example is particularly distinguished by the horseshoe ruby motif on the dial cover — a symbol of good fortune rendered in vivid red rubies with a diamond V-point accent at the crown — paired with a substantial 47.7-gram all-gold chevron link bracelet that gives the piece its remarkable physical presence.

The 14K yellow gold body is constructed in a wide chevron quilted basketweave link pattern that gives the bracelet its flexible, body-conforming drape while providing a visually rich textured surface across the full 18mm width. The dial cover is a rectangular gem-set panel featuring a semicircular horseshoe arrangement of round rubies flanking a central diamond V-shaped channel bar — the rubies prong-set in warm yellow gold, the diamonds channel-set in a contrasting white gold insert. At the upper and lower lug junctions, additional ruby and diamond accent stations continue the red-and-white color pattern down into the bracelet body, ensuring the gem-set decorative detail is visible from both above and below the main cover panel. At 47.7 grams of solid 14K yellow gold the bracelet carries exceptional precious metal weight for a dress watch of this size, underscoring the substantiality and investment value of this signed piece.