Important Collectors Watches, Pocket...
Geneva, Oct 14, 2007
LOT 165
?Fasoldt Patent Double-Wheel Chronometer? Charles Fasoldt, Albany, N.Y., No. 437. Made circa 1870. Very fine and extremely rare, 18K gold, hunting-cased, keyless pocket chronometer with Fasoldt?s patented double-wheel escapement and detachable winding crown with hand-setting key.
CHF 45,000 - 55,000
EUR 27,000 - 35,000 / USD 37,000 - 45,000
C. Four-body, by Humbert, (master mark), No. XX, "bassine et filets", polished, spring-loaded front cover, reeded band. Hinged gold-rimmed glazed cuvette. D. White enamel, narrow radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel ?Breguet? hands. M. 46 mm (20???), maillechort, parallel bridge caliber, "fausses côtes" decoration, 15 jewels, wolf?s tooth winding, Fasoldt patented unidirectional double gold wheel lever chronometer escapement with locking on the large wheel and impulse from the smaller one, large single roller, cut-bimetallic compensation balance, gilded in typical Fasoldt manner, large steel Breguet balance spring controlled by Fasoldt patented gold micrometric torsion regulator, patented stem winding mechanism with detachable key for hand-setting, locking slide for the winding crown on the band. Dial and movement signed. Movement also engraved ?Pat. Feb. 1, 1859, Apr 5, 1864 & March 7, 1865?. Case punched "E.H". Diam. 55 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 2 |
Very good |
Dial: 2-01 |
Very good HANDS Original |
Notes
This colorful individual was born in Germany in 1818. After receiving a death sentence for taking part in the 1848 Revolution, he escaped from prison and sailed to the United States. He began making watches in Rome, New York, then moved to Albany, where he established an impressive enterprise for the making of clocks, micrometric gratings, microscopes and, of course, his famous watches. He sold them for between $150 and $300 each, which was expensive at the time. They were made according to his very individual design. Almost all of them employed his patented chronometer lever escapement.
The escapement in the present watch (patented on Feb 1, 1859) is remarkably reliable. It requires no oil and has very strong draw on both locking pallets. Fasoldt performed an interesting and picturesque experiment demonstrating the reliability of his escapement, he tied his watch, along with other maker's watches, to the driving rod of the Empire Express locomotive. After having made the entire trip from Albany to New York and back, his watch registered only a few minutes' difference. The other makers' watches stopped within the first few minutes of the trip. The other unusual feature of this watch is the winding and hand-setting. The winding is done in the usual way, by turning the crown clockwise (the crown cannot be turned anti-clockwise). For the hand-setting, the entire crown is released via a slide on the band and a winding square at the end of the stem is then used to manually set the hands from the back of the movement. This is a variation of the ?Breguet key? system, but without ratchet.