Important Collectors' Wristwatches, P...

New York, Mar 10, 2010

LOT 225

David Munro and Erika Johnson table regulator David Munro and Erika Johnson, New Jersey, made in 2002. Very fine and rare, brass-mounted, marble hour and half-hour striking table regulator, with two-second remontoire and a special compensation pendulum.

C. Two blocks of green verde marble joined by black molded marble section, small extended marble molding at the top supporting the movement. D. White enamel, flat, Roman numerals, outer minute ring. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Hump-back-shaped, solid brass, visible Graham deadbeat escapement with sapphire jeweled pallets, driven by 15-tooth wheel, jeweled upper train pivots for a total of 10 jewels, differential remontoire rewinding on each third tick, the arbor which carries the seconds has a drive wheel and a 30 tooth locking wheel mounted on the same collet. This locking wheel is held by a blued steel detent. Pivoted on an arbor directly behind the escape wheel is a frame, with an adjustable knurled weight. This frame carries an idler gear of the same count as the escape pinion. Each advance of the escape wheel is powered by a drop of this weight. A steel pin on the frame raises with each drop, and on the third tick lifts the detent, releasing the lower train, rewinding the weight, and advancing the hands. The mass of this partially counterpoised frame avoids the need for a fly with its attendant problems. The 2/3-second pendulum is supported by a substantial bracket screwed to the top of the back plate. The suspension travels in the bracket with knurled adjusting screws for fine beat setting. The pendulum adjusts for temperature differences through Garnier's visually important "dumbbell" system of bimetallic compensation. As the steel rod expands with an increase in temperature, the brass side rods extend further, raising the pivoted compensation weights. The weights can be moved to adjust the compensation. The solid brass beat scale is a separate element, engraved on the pendulum circumference. The clock has a conventional count wheel strike, striking a bell at hour and half hour. Back plate signed "Arcadian Clock Co." Dim. Height 60 cm (24"), width 22 cm (8.5"), depth 14 cm (5.5").