9,200 CHF
B. Haas Jeune, Genève, Besançon, Paris, No. 15558, made for the Argentinian market, circa 1880. Very fine 18K rose gold hunting-cased, keyless, pocket lever chronometer, minute-repeating chronograph and remontoire per-pétuel à décrochement keyless cover winding. Five-body, “bassine et filets”, front engraved with Phrygian cap, twoclasped hands, flags, canons and the rising Sun, engine-turned back cover,gold hinged cuvette. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minutedivisions, outermost chronograph track divided into fifths, five-minute/sec-ondsgilt Arabic markers, subsidiary sunk seconds at 9 o’clock. Gold “spade”hands. Notes In 1873 Benjamin Haas patented a winding mechanism (English patent No. 3945), using the energy generated when closing the front cover to wind the watch. The initial idea was improved; this watch features a well-developed system with a 36-hour power reserve generated by twelve closings. To achieve this, Hass added an additional wheel to the going train, which allowed him three hours winding by a single closing. He also designed a safety device disengaging the mechanism when fully wound, which was nec-essary to prevent damage to the cover. Hass employed this design in some of his best watches, mostly those with complications.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2004-11-14
