Important Collectors Wristwatches, P...
Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, May 13, 2007
LOT 574
?One Month Going? French. Made circa 1880. Fine and rare, one month-going, rosewood, weight-driven precision wall regulator with pin-wheel escapement and mercury pendulum. To be sold without reserve
CHF 7,000 - 9,000
EUR 4,500 - 5,500 / USD 5,700 - 7,500
Sold: CHF 12,980
C. Rosewood, rectangular, molded top, glazed sides and hinged door, under-curved molded base. D. Silvered, radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions and Arabic five-minute numerals, subsidiary dead seconds. M. Massive rectangular brass plates, four massive cylindrical pillars secured by steel screws, fivewheel train, Harrison?s maintaining power, pin-wheel escapement, crutch with micrometer beat adjustment, massive brass bracket with pendulum suspension fixed to the backboard, glass-jar mercury pendulum with steel rod, fine regulation wheel above, massive brass-cased weight and pulley hanging to the side with an intermediate pulley above. Dim. 179 x 53 x 26 cm. Property of an Swiss Gentleman
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AA |
Very good |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Notes
This escapement was particularly popular in France and was invented by Louis Amant in 1741. The teeth of the escape wheel are replaced by pins standing vertically from the plane of the wheel, a swinging pair of levers attached to the pendulum allows the pins to ?escape? one by one, this also impulses the pendulum. The pin-wheel escapement is quite accurate and only needs a small pendulum arc making it suitable for precision clocks.
Mercury Pendulum
The mercury jar pendulum was invented by George Graham in 1721 as a result of work which he said he had done ten years earlier. Mercury expands and contracts in a regular manner therefore allowing the clockmaker to accurately predict the rate of the clock. The mercury can also be added or removed in any desired quantity to regulate the clock before the fine adjustment.