The Art of American Horology Part ll,...

Roosevelt Hotel, Madison Avenue @ 45th Street, Dec 04, 2002

LOT 640

Waltham, Mod. 1883, Crescent St., No. 4099191, made between December 1889 and June 1892.Fine, 20-year rose gold-filled, J. Boss, hunting-cased, keyless watch with an unusual Montgomery dial signed "Santa Fe Railway System Standard Dial".

USD 1,800 - 2,300

C. Four-body, triple-hinged ,"demi-bassine", back engraved with locomotive, front in foliate pattern, reeded band. D. White enamel, unusual small Arabic numerals, outer dot minute divisions with one-minute Arabic markers (five-minutes in red), sunk sub-seconds. Blued steel "American Spade" hands. M. 18 size, nickel, full-plate, damascened with rosette, 15 jewels, adjusted, lateral lever esca-pement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel Bre-guet balance spring, Church type I patened (No. 312,253) micro-metric regulator, pendant-set.Diam. 57mm.


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Grading System
Grade: A

Good
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3 - 12 - 01

Notes

There is nothing "standard" about the dial of this watch. It appears that the Santa Fe Railway System initially intended to adopt this dial on the watches of their personnel. For whatever reason, this was not the case and the present example is possibly a prototype dial which employs Montgomery's patent No. 54950.For a note, seeLot 662, see also patent at the back of the catalogue.