Important Collectors' Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Hotel Noga Hilton, Oct 16, 2005

LOT 219

?Seconds Striking Chronograph? Swiss, No. 6929. Made circa 1900. Fine, interesting and possibly unique, silver keyless pocket watch with dead-seconds chronograph with one second continuous striking.

CHF 4,000 - 6,000

EUR 2,500 - 4,000 / USD 3,200 - 5,000

Sold: CHF 12,650

C. Four-body, ?bassine?, polished, hand setting button with gold lip. Hinged silver cuvette. D. White enamel with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track and Arabic five minute numerals. Blued steel ?spade? hands. M. 19''', frosted gilt, bar calibre, wolf's tooth winding, 18 jewels, counterpoised straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, chronograph driven from a star-wheel mounted on the lower escape-wheel pivot, a ?V? shaped sprung and pivoted lever with a jewelled pallet at the driving end, the other end with two vertical triangular posts pushing around a wolf's toothed wheel on which the second hand is fitted, a small hammer is attached to the fulcrum of the lever and strikes the seconds continuously on a gong whilst the chronograph is in operation, stop/start and strike/not strike slides in the band. Movement and case numbered 6929, dial plate numbered 44220. Diam. 52 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3-6-14

Good

Slightly oxidized

Damaged
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 4-14-25-01

Fair

Damaged

Chipped

HANDS Original

Notes

This remarkable watch, the specific use of which is unknown, has an ingenious mechanism to both drive the seconds hand and incorporate a strike for each elapsed second. It is in effect a chronograph without a chronograph mechanism. The whole system is simply driven by the beating of the escapement and takes its power via a star-wheel mounted on the escape-wheel pivot, the star-wheel pushes a jewelled pallet at one end of a ?V? shaped steel lever which is sprung at its fulcrum to provide recoil, the hammer is also attached at this point and at the other end two posts drive the seconds wheel. The seconds can run without striking or with striking at will.