A very rare 18k rose gold A. Lange & Söhne carousel savonette pocket watch with extract form the archives.
Heavy hunter pocketwatch with relief monogram "CE". "Lucia" spring case with á-goutte keys. Metal dial with winding aperture at 12 o'clock and small subsidiary second at 6 o'clock. Black Roman numerals and blued steel pear form hands. Onion crown. Manual winding. Quality 1a. Movement no. 45284, cal. 47, case no. 45284. Includes an extract from the German Clock and Watch Museum in Glashütte from 27.09.2023 and a copy of the registry of sale to one E. Lauterbach, Sonneberg in 1909 for 750 M Dial, movement and case signed. ⌀ 57,25 mm. Weight 212.11 g.
Glashütte, Germany, 1909.
This hunter pocket watch is especially extraordinary due to the rarity of its movement. In order to minimize the natural pressure of gravity on the movement and thus prevent loss of time, the tourbillon was developed in 1801 by the French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet. In the tourbillon, the oscillation and escapement system are housed in a rotating cage or turntable. The tourbillon distributes gravity evenly across the oscillation system and thus contributes significantly to improving accuracy, regardless of the position of the watch.
Since the tourbillon was not only extremely expensive and complex to produce, but also very sensitive and prone to malfunctions, the Dane Bahne Bonniksen invented the so-called carousel at the end of the 19th century. In a carousel pocket watch, the escapement parts do not rotate so quickly, but rather more slowly, just once an hour. This allows the rotating gear frame to be made more solid while still achieving the intended purpose of balancing gravity. Due to the slower rotation, the carousel offers a longer compensation period, which can be seen as beneficial for accuracy. A major difference between a tourbillon and a carousel, in addition to the rotation speed, is the drive of the bogie. In the tourbillon, the drive is via the second wheel, while in the carousel the bogie is usually driven by the third wheel.
In 1899, Richard Lange improved this concept and received utility model protection from the German Empire. A. Lange & Söhne then produced a limited number of pocket watches with a carousel.
The item being offered here is in good condition and includes information from the archive and a copy of the original sales invoice.