Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, May 13, 2007

LOT 60

?Precision Electric Wall Clock, Black Dial? Léon Hatot, (ATO). Made in the 1940s. Fine and unusual electric precision wall clock with center seconds and special half-second pendulum.

CHF 1,500 - 2,500

EUR 900 - 1,500 / USD 1,200 - 2,000

Sold: CHF 3,540

C. Rectangular, silver patinated body, chromed bezel, wall leveling nuts in the back. D. Circular, black painted chapter ring with white Art Deco numerals, outer minute and seconds track, cutaway center displaying the movement. White ?baton? hour and minute hands, red center seconds hand. M. Half-second electromagnetic pendulum activating the electrical contacts, large micrometer adjustment nut, coil and Foucault regulator tube, pendulum locking screw below. Dial signed. Dim. 49 x 28 x 10 cm. Property of a French Gentleman


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Grading System
Grade: A

Good
Case: 4-6

Fair

Slightly oxidized
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

In some ATO clocks, including the present lot, in addition to the coil there is a copper tube at the opposite end of the magnetic arc. This corrects the arc for variations in the battery voltage by using selfinduced ?Foucault? currents which are caused by the to and fro action of the magnet through the tube. Foucault, (Jean Bernard) Léon French physicist who demonstrated the rotation of the Earth by means of a pendulum. In 1862 he made the first accurate determination of the velocity of light. In 1860, he invented high-quality regulators for driving machinery at a constant speed that were used in telescope motors and factory engines.