Geneva, Nov 05, 2023

LOT 331

VACHERON CONSTANTIN, SWITZERLAND, DECK-WATCH, LARGE POCKET CHRONOMETER WITH GUILLAUME BALANCE, SILVER

CHF 1,950 - 3,900

EUR 2,000 - 4,000 / USD 2,200 - 4,300 / HKD 16,500 - 33,000

Sold: CHF 5,000

A very fine, silver, manual wind 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.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3-8

Good

Slightly scratched
Movement: 3-6*

Good

Slightly oxidized

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-6-01

Good

Slightly oxidized

HANDS Original

Brand Vacheron Constantin, Switzerland

Model Deck-Watch

Year Circa 1944

Movement No. 446143

Case No. 284507

Diameter 60 mm.

Caliber 21’’’, lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensated balance with gold poising screws, 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.