N.M. Bronnikoff

N. M. Bronnikoff, Wjatka, Russia, circa 1870. Very rare and fine watch entirely made of box-wood and bone, with original carved chain and key. Double body, entirely made of box-wood. Wooden with Arabic numerals on bone cartouches and subsidiary seconds. Bone Breguet hands. Entirely made of wood, excluding the mainspring and the balance spring only, with going barrel, cylinder escapement, plain wood three-arm balance. Signed inside the back. In very good condition. Diann. 50 mm. Notes Very good example of a watch which is otherwise hard to find in such good condition, especially still retaining the original wooden carved chain and key. Bronikoff was a sculptor with a thorough mechanical knowledge, famous in the second half of the 19th century for his skill in working wood and bone to make charms, decorative objects and watches. He lived in Viatka, a small town which today has a population of just over 400,000. It is located on, and named after, the river Viatka, a Kama affluent, between the Volga and the Oural. According to Russians, the town enjoys a continental climate, hot in Summer and -40°C in Winter. Between 1939 and 1991, the town was renamed Kirov but with the Perestroika regained its original name. Viatka is an important metallurgic centre, which suggests that it was not the lack of metal in the area that urged Bronikoff to make wooden watches. Indeed, it would appear that the craftsman ' s predilection for wood and hone was quite a specific and deliberate choic