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Index No. A7533 Very Rare Moonphase Calendar with Patent Winding
A very rare late 19th Century Swiss calendar with Haas patent winding in a decorative gold hunter case. Damascened nickelled bar movement, going barrel, fine frosted steel ratchet wheel above. Plain cock with polished steel regulator, compensation balance with blue steel overcoil hairspring. Club foot straight line lever escapement, escape pivots with endstones in polished steel settings. The watch is wound by the action of opening and closing the hunter cover. Small button in the pendant to set the hands. Fully restored white enamel dial with subsidiaries for day, date, month and seconds combined with the moonphase below. Gold and blue enamel disc with the moon and stars, Roman numerals, gilt hands. Decorative richly chased and engraved 18 carat gold full hunter case, chased and engraved bezels and middle. The back cover decorated with a foliate motif with a representation of a lion's head in an oval. The front cover with a similar oval set with an elaborate applied gold monogram. The inside of the back cover with a large vacant oval for a miniature with a clip reeded bezel. Signed on the gold cuvette "Chronometre - Geneve", makers mark "BHJ & Cie"
Circa 1880
Diameter 53 mm
The Patent for this unusual winding mechanism was taken out in 1873 by Haas. It is an ingenious solution for the provision of a winding mechanism that required little from the wearer other than normal use of the watch. Every time the cover is opened the barrel is wound approximately a fifth of a turn, the watch would need to be used about twenty times each day to keep it running. Few examples of simple timepieces now appear for sale. The addition of the calendar work makes this a very rare watch. See The Camerer Cuss Book of Antique Watches, Page 244.
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