Important Watches, Collectors’ Wristw...

Hotel Noga Hilton, Nov 14, 2004

LOT 260

B. Haas Jeune, Genève, Besançon, Paris, No. 15558, made for the Argentinian market, circa 1880. Very fine 18K rose gold hunting-cased, keyless, pocket lever chronometer, minute-repeating chronograph and remontoire per-pétuel à décrochement keyless cover winding.

CHF 9,000 - 11,000

EUR 6,000 - 7,000 / USD 7,000 - 9,000

Sold: CHF 9,200

C. Five-body, ?bassine et filets?, front engraved with Phrygian cap, twoclasped hands, flags, canons and the rising Sun, engine-turned back cover,gold hinged cuvette. D. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minutedivisions, outermost chronograph track divided into fifths, five-minute/sec-ondsgilt Arabic markers, subsidiary sunk seconds at 9 o?clock. Gold ?spade?hands. M. 43 mm (19'''), maillechort, ?fausses côtes? decoration, 33 jewels,straight line calibrated lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation bal-ancewith Breguet balance spring, patented winding mechanism which,when the cover is closed, transmits power via two levers to a ratchet wheelon the barrel arbor with a safety device disengaging the mechanism whenfully wound, going train with an additional wheel driving a steel wheel fixedto the center wheel having half the diameter of the driving one, secondmotion train driven from the canon pinion and advanced directly by pushingthe teeth of the minute wheel, lever-set. Signed on the cuvette.Diam. 55 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3 - 14
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Notes

In 1873 Benjamin Haas patented a winding mechanism (English patent No. 3945), using the energy generated when closing the front cover to wind the watch. The initial idea was improved; this watch features a well-developed system with a 36-hour power reserve generated by twelve closings. To achieve this, Hass added an additional wheel to the going train, which allowed him three hours winding by a single closing. He also designed a safety device disengaging the mechanism when fully wound, which was nec-essary to prevent damage to the cover. Hass employed this design in some of his best watches, mostly those with complications.