Only Online Auction
Hong Kong, Mar 03, 2021
LOT 309
Vacheron Constantin
Large pocket chronometer, so-called “Deck-Watch”; silver
HKD 28,200 - 47,000
CHF 3,300 - 5,500 / EUR 3,000 - 5,000 / USD 3,700 - 6,100
Silver (0.925), open-face, keyless-winding, round-shaped, large pocket chronometer, so-called “Deck-Watch”, silver dial with large suspended Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds at 6.
Movement 21’’’, lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensated balance with gold poising screws, index regulator with swan-neck spring and micrometric screw.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AA |
Very good |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3 * |
|
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Brand Vacheron Constantin, Geneva
Model “Deck-Watch”
Year circa 1942-1943
Movement No. 444 775
Case No. 279 608 (by “FFBA”, Fédération de Fabricants de Boîtes Argent, S. Graber, Renan)
Material silver
Diameter 60.3 mm.
Caliber 21’’’, cut bimetallic compensated balance, index regulator with swan-neck spring and micrometric screw
Signature dial, case and movement
Notes
“Deck-Watch”
A “deck-watch” is a precision watch used on the deck of boats for navigational purposes (point reading) to avoid disturbing the proper functioning of the marine chronometer, which remains in a specific area of the ship (chronometer room or captain’s cabin).
For more information on this type of time-keeper, now a collector’s item, see Norbert Eder’s reference book.
Bibliography
· Eder, Norbert, Beobachtungsuhren, Deck Watches und Chronomètres de bord, Munich, Callwey Verlag, 1987 (216 pp.; similar watch on the cover).
· The Art of Vacheron Constantin, An Important Collection of 286 Watches, Clocks and Wristwatches, Geneva, Antiquorum Editions, pp. 200-201.
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Guillaume Balance
The Guillaume balance is a compensated bimetallic balance, made of anibal (an alloy of steel and nickel) and brass, after the works of Dr Charles-Edouard Guillaume (1861-1938), with which the middle-temperature error is practically eliminated.
The middle-temperature error (or Dent’s anomaly), is the difference between the rate of a chronometer at the mean temperature and the average of the rates at extreme temperatures.
This type of balance was used by the horological manufactories since 1904.