Antiquorum Auctioneers since 1974

Geneva, May 10, 2026

LOT 432

HONORE PONS, FRANCE, DEAD CENTER-SECONDS MANTLE REGULATOR WITH ONE-SECOND CONSTANT FORCE DETENT ESCAPEMENT

CHF 20,000 - 40,000

HKD 200,000 - 398,000 / USD 25,400 - 51,000 / EUR 21,700 - 43,300 / JPY 4,040,000 - 8,070,000

TO BE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE

Sold: CHF 62,500

An extremely rare and very fine, manual wind Dark green rectangular marble base with gilt brass circular feet, wooden frame with four square columns supported by rectangular wooden block, classical wooden top with molded edges. Small enamel, set at the top with Roman hour chapter and outer minute ring. Center-seconds with white enamel ring with dot divisions and five-seconds Arabic markers, escapement visible in the center. Blued steel Breguet hands


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Brand Honore Pons, France

Year invented and executed in an XII (Sept. 24, 1803 - Sept. 23, 1804)

Caliber Humpback, 16,5cm high, 14 cm wide, going barrel with five-wheel train, brass-steegridiron pendulum with knife-edge suspension and beat adjustment on the crutch, ingenious remontoir with escape wheel driven by an extremely small hollow weight, weighing less than one gram, whose cord is wound directly on the escape wheel arbor, constantly giving the same one-directional impulse. Winding is achieved as follows: unlocking jewel mounted on the T-shaped impulse frame, set on the same arbor as the crutch releases the detent, the escape wheel giving an impulse to the steel pin. Aftr the impulse is delivered a pin mounted on the escape wheel lifts a lever, unlocking the train, and consequently another pin on the last train wheel lifts the lever set on the escape wheel, locking it on the detent and winding the small weight. Most of the escapement detents and levers have adjustments; when adjusted properly it becomes a remarkably accurate detached escapement.

Length 310

Height 500

Signature Movement

Notes

The escapement represents a particularly ingenious application of the constant-force mechanism to the escapement invented by Berthoud; it appears to be an unrecorded variant. The refinement of its design and the precision of its execution clearly justify de Thury’s classification of Pons among the finest horologists of his period.

Honoré Pons
Active in Saint-Nicolas-d’Aliermont from 1807, Honoré Pons was one of the most eminent French clockmakers of his time. In 1819, Viscount Héricart de Thury wrote:
"The Art of Clockmaking provides us with a throng of distinguished names known in the sciences of astronomy and physics, such as the Breguets, the Berthouds, the Janviers, the Robins, the Lepautes, the Bourdiers, the Pons."

A tremendously versatile clock- and watchmaker, Pons designed and built his own machinery for clock production and developed distinctive movement types, later known as Pons calibers, which he supplied to other makers such as Brocot. He participated in numerous exhibitions and was awarded many prizes and medals. Upon his death, he bequeathed 1,000 francs to aid watchmakers in need.

References:
– Les Ouvriers du Temps, Jean-Dominique Augarde, Editions Antiquorum, Geneva, 1996.
– Dictionnaire des Horlogers Français, Tardy, Paris, 1972.