Important Collector's Watches, Pocket...
Geneva, Nov 11, 2007
LOT 170
Deck Chronometer A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte/Sa., No. 200336, issue No. M4469. Made circa 1942. Fine, keyless, silver, deck and pocket lever chronometer with power reserve indication and Guillaume balance.
CHF 3,500 - 5,000
EUR 2,100 - 3,000 / USD 3,000 - 4,200
Sold: CHF 5,900
C. Four-body, bassine, polished, back cover engraved with the watch issue number. Hinged silver steel cuvette. D. Brushed silvered with painted black Arabic numerals, outer minute track, large subsidiary seconds at 3, power reserve indication at 9. Blued steel spade hands. M. 47 mm., 21''', frosted gilt, three-quarter plate, 17-jewels, straight-line lever escapement with lateral banking extension on the entry pallet, anibal brass Guillaume balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring with patent stud fastening, swan-neck micrometer adjustment to the regulator. Case, cuvette and movement signed. Diam. 60 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: A |
Good |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Notes
Guillaume Balance
In 1899, Dr. Charles Edouard Guillaume noticed that steel with an addition of 44.4% nickel had a negative square coefficient of thermal expansion.
This alloy, combined with brass in bimetallic lamina, makes its expansion close to quadratic. Balances with bimetallic rims made of anibal (anibal, an alloy invented by Guillaume, stands for (Acier au NIckel pour BaLanciers) and brass are usually called Guillaume balances, or, as their inventor called them, integral balances. When combined with special balance springs, they exhibit remarkable temperature stability, on occasion not exceeding 1/50 second per day at 1oC.