Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces

Hong Kong, Jun 23, 2012

LOT 87

THOMAS ENGEL, CHRONOMETRE ? TYPE CONCOURS OBSERVATOIRE, GOLD Thomas Engel, ?Chronomètre? No. 8. Made in the 1980s. Very fine and rare, 18K yellow gold, keyless, ?Chronomètre ? Type Concours Observatoire? pocket watch with 30-hour power reserve, thermometer and calendar.

HKD 150,000 - 240,000

USD 20,000 - 31,000 / EUR 15,000 - 23,000

Sold: HKD 162,500

C. Three-body, ?Empire?, screwed-down back cover decorated with engine-turning grains d?orge, polished band and bezel, gold glazed cuvette, ball-type swiveling pendant acting as the winding crown. D. Silver, radial Roman numerals on brushed chapter ring, outer minute dot divisions, engine-turned and whitened center, subsidiary seconds, thermometer sector at 9 o?clock, days of the week between 2 and 3 o?clock, aperture for power reserve indication. Gold Breguet hands. M. 22???, Cal.5011K, rhodium-plated, fausses cotes decoration, stamped with Thomas Engel punch mark, 19 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, selfcompensating balance spring with outer terminal curve, balance and escape wheel pivots with shock absorbers, micrometer regulator. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 56 mm.


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image
Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 2

Very good
Movement: 2

Very good
Dial: 2-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

Professor Thomas Engel is known worldwide for his research in the production of polymers. In 1966, he developed a process for cross-linking plastic extrusions, particularly those of cross-linked polyethylene. Based on the reaction of plastics at pressures of 15?000 to 150?000 psi and temperatures of approximately 300° and the presence of a peroxide catalyst, a cross-linking agent, this process was a signifi cant step forward in plastics technology. It resulted in the production of a high molecular weight product with improved heat and chemical resistance, which is still in use nearly thirty years later. Engel has received numerous prizes and honors for his work. In 1972, he was awarded the ?Diesel Prize? along with Dr. Wernher von Braun, the rocket and space technologist