Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Hong Kong, May 10, 2020

LOT 107

Longines - Historical presentation heavy pocket watch, chronograph, minute recorder, cal. 1973 “high-class”; 18K yellow gold

HKD 17,200 - 20,300

USD 2,200 - 2,600 / EUR 2,100 - 2,400 / CHF 2,200 - 2,600

18K yellow gold, open-face, keyless-winding, round-shaped, presentation heavy pocket watch, with two horological complications: • 1/5 second chronograph (activated by the single round push-piece located on the winding-crown) • Instantaneous 30-minute recorder (subsidiary dial at 12 o’clock). Case-back polished and engraved in taille-douce with the cypher “G K”. Cuvette (dome) engraved in taille-douce with the mentionr “Zum Andenken / an / Herr Sulzer Steiner / 1837-1906” (In memory of Mr. Sulzer Steiner, 1837-1906). Movement 19.73, 19’’’, gilded brass, going barrel, straight-line equilibrated lever escapement, monometallic screw-balance and self-compensating Breguet hairspring, index regulator with swan-neck spring and precision-regulating device for fast / slow by means of an eccentric snail.


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Grading System
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3 *
Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Brand Longines, Saint-Imier

Year circa 1906

Movement No. 1 566 974

Case No. 1 566 974

Material 18K yellow gold

Diameter 54 mm.

Caliber 19.73, 19’’’, lever escapement

Weight 115 gr. (gross)

Signature dial, case and movement

Accessories Extract from the Archives

Notes

The Extract from the Archives, dated March 16, 2019, mentioned that this watch was invoiced on October 16, 1906, to the company Sulzer, Switzerland.
The cypher and the dedication on the cuvette (dome) were engraved by the manufactory. The movement has a much more meticulous finish with a fine adjustment system, a “high-class” balance-spring allowing for increased precision.
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Presentation Watch
A presentation watch is a watch offered by, or on its behalf, by a ruler / leader (Emperor, King, President, Prime Minister, Company Director, etc.) as an acknowledgment or thanks to a third person.

Biography

Heinrich Sulzer-Steiner (Winterthur, March 19, 1837 – Bern, May 11, 1906) came from a Protestant family in Winterthur. He is in the fourth generation of one of the most important Swiss foundries, which was founded in the 18th century.
Heinrich Sulzer joined Sulzer Brothers in 1860 and worked on the development of steam engines and in the field of heating. He managed the company from 1872 to 1906. Sulzer created the first prototype of a diesel engine in 1897 and was a pioneer in the development of this technology in the first half of the 20th century.
In 1883, he co-founded the Swiss Society of Machine Builders, which he served as vice-president from 1883 to 1906. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Karlsruhe Polytechnic in 1903.
At the time of his death, in 1906, the company had more than 3 500 employees in Winterthur and some 1 000 in Ludwigshafen, near Mannheim, Germany.
In 2010, the Sulzer Group had a turnover of 3.18 billion Swiss francs, with more than 160 subsidiaries and 13 740 employees worldwide.