Honoré Pons

Honoré Pons, Paris, circa 1823. Extremely rare and fine, vertical, center seconds eight-day going traveling chronometer with special escapement. ectangular mahogany, detached covers for transportation with ivory lock insets. Silver, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, inner seconds track. Blued steel "spade" hands. Rectangular, 105 x 97 mm., brass, going barrel, very unusual pivoted detent escapement driven by a pin-wheel, three-arm bimetallic compensation balance, free-sprung helical balance spring with terminal curves.Dim. 17,5 x 15 x 11 cm. Notes This is a very simple and ingenious escapement. The impulse is given by escape wheel pin directly to the impulse roller set on the balance staff, the locking is by a small lever fixed to the pivoted arbor, another similar lever is mounted for the unlocking. The escapement is simple to make (no need for cutting special escape wheel) and is also well performing detached chronometer one. Such chronometers were exhibited for the firs time at the Paris Exhibition of 1823. The only other clock knownof this type, is in the Musée National des Techniques (C.N.A.M., Paris), is described and illustrated in Hans Von Bertele : Marine and pocket Chronometers, page 168, fig. 167 a,b,c.Honoré Pons active in Saint Nicolas d'Aliermont from 1807, was one of the most eminent French clockmakers of the period. A tremendously versatile clockmaker and watchmaker, he designed and built his own machinery for clock production, devised his own