Important Collector's Watches, Pocket...

Geneva, Nov 11, 2007

LOT 188

Atmos, ?J.L. Reutter Patent? Atmos, Pendule Perpetuelle, J.L. Reutter patent, No. 6980, Swiss. Made in the late 1920s. Very fine and very rare, early, Art Deco, chrome and glass, "perpetual" clock wound by changes in barometric pressure.

CHF 22,000 - 27,000

EUR 13,000 - 16,000 / USD 18,000 - 23,000

Sold: CHF 22,420

C. Rectangular, chromed frame and inclined base, glazed 4 sides and top with rectangular base. D. Matte silvered with applied blued brass baton indexes and ?Art Deco? Arabic quarter-hour numerals. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Chrome, vacuum chamber winding the going barrel, lever escapement driven by annular tension pendulum, locking lever in the base below the pendulum. Dial signed, case numbered. Dim. height 24 cm., width 17.8 cm., depth 14 cm.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 4-7-16-01

Fair

Oxidized

Rusted

HANDS Original

Notes

The Atmos clock was invented by Neuchâtel engineer Jean-Léon Reutter (1899-1971). From his youth, he wanted to produce a clock that could be wound by atmospheric fluctuations, and in 1928 he succeeded. Reutter?s patent was first licensed to a French company who exploited it until 1935. Subsequently, it was purchased by Jaeger LeCoultre. After difficult early years, by 1979 there were half a million such clocks which quickly became popular and prestigious gifts for the important heads of states during their visits to Switzerland.