Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces

New York, Sep 14, 2011

LOT 7

WALL-MOUNTED J.L. REUTTER PATENT ATMOS Atmos, ?Pendule Perpetuelle?, J. L. Reutter patent, Swiss. Made circa 1935. Very fine and very rare, early, Art Deco, chrome, wood and glass, "perpetual" clock wound by changes in barometric pressure with early mercury in glass expansion device. To be sold without reserve

USD 8,000 - 12,000

CHF 6,000 - 9,000 / EUR 5,500 - 8,500

Sold: USD 15,625

C. Rectangular, chromed frame with glass on three sides, the bottom and back painted wood, hook at the top for affi xing to the wall. D. Matte silvered with Arabic numerals, inner minute track. Breguet hands. M. Chrome, vacuum chamber with rotating drum driven by a mercury in glass expansion device winding the going barrel by a blued steel spring and ratchet, lever escapement driven by annular torsion pendulum with large screws, locking lever in the base below the pendulum. Dial signed Atmos. Height 15 in., width 8.5 in., depth 6 in.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

In the late 1920s the young engineer Jean-Leon Reutter experimented with a clock which would not need direct mechanical or electrical intervention to keep it wound, a clock powered only by Perpetual Motion. His design included a device powering the movement independently, using mercury - a substance which would react to the most sensitive changes in temperature and atmospheric conditions, hence the name: "Atmos Clock.? These fi rst models used the mercury in glass expansion device. Later, due to dangers in handling and instability, the mercury in the bellows powering the Atmos Clock was changed to a more stable saturated gas, ethyl chloride. Reutter's system was patented in 1928 to later be sold and improved by Jaeger-LeCoultre. The ?perpetual? movement is defi ned as ?a movement which continues to function indefi nitely without any exterior source of energy.?