75,900 CHF
“One-Minute English Tourbillon” The Northern Goldsmiths Company, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Watchmakers To the Lords of the Admiralty, No. 2098. The case by Northern Goldsmiths, with London hallmarks for 1919. Extremely fine and important, 18K gold hunting-cased keyless pocket watch with one-minute tourbillon regulator made by Sidney Better (type 1) with Guillaume balance. Kew Observatory Rating Marks of 90.3 achieved in 1920. Five-body, “pommes et filets”, polished, the band rising to incorporate the hand-setting button, glazed gold-rimmed cover for viewing the movement. White enamel with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel “spade” hands. Notes Sidney Better One of the great makers of tourbillon carriages. Between 1917 and 1922 he constructed eight tourbillon watches of very high quality for The Northern Goldsmiths Company using two types of carriage: Type 1 - Used in the present watch, with three equidistant arms surmounted by a two-arm bridge. Type 2 - With three arms at 90 degree angles to each other and a de-centralized balance. A watch with this type of carriage was sold by Antiquorum, Geneva, November 11, 2001, Lot 295. Both types used a Swiss straight line lever escapement. In the 1920's The Northern Goldsmiths Company hit financial difficulties which prematurely ended their association with Better. The result was that only eight tourbillon watches by him for Northern Goldsmiths are known. The present watch attained 90.3 marks i
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2005-11-13
