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18-Size Niello Over Silver Hunter Case Quarter Hour Pocket Watch
Estimated price for orientation: 3 050 $
Category: Antique
Class:
Description Movement: Mechanical: Hand-winding Features: 12-Hour Dial Year of Manufacture: 1890-1899 Escapement Type: Lever Material: Sterling Silver with Rose Gold and Niello Enamel Serial Number: 74,634 Closure: Full Hunter
18-Size Niello Over Silver Quarter Hour Hunter Case Man’s Pocket Watch
Swiss; Le Phare; Man’s; Serial # 74,634; Circa: 1890
CASE: The sterling silver 18-size No. 74,634 hunter case displays geometric, enamel and niello designs.
DIAL: This white porcelain single sunk dial features Arabic numerals and filigree hands.
MOVT: The 16-size lever-set No. 74,634 gilt movement has a lever escapement and a ¾-plate layout.
C 2 (The case is in perfect condition)
D 2 (The dial is in perfect condition)
M 2 (The movement is in perfect condition)
R 9 (Rarity on a scale of #1 being very common to #10 being extremely rare)
Expert’s Opinion: Super clean Niello repeater. These are usually chipped but this one is perfect. A collector’s watch for sure! AI-179-27
Niello
The niello watch case became a canvas for outstanding art works that will likely never be duplicated. The term niello comes from the Latin word nigellum that is the diminutive of niger (black.) It was a technique used by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Persians. Niello is a black or blackish-blue composition of lead, silver, copper, sulfur and ammonium chloride. The mixture is fused onto an engraved or cut-out metal base by firing the mix in a process similar to champleve' enameling. Silver was the most often used metal for niello objects since the soft white silver color contrasted beautifully with the darker niello. Rose-gold inlay work was also seen in combination with niello and tri-color effects were achieved by the use of rose-gold, niello and silver. When the niello was heated and fired onto a silver watch case, it actually fused with the silver very strongly, almost as if it were soldered in place. The niello would be filled, finished and polished, leaving the surface of the watch case smooth and flat. One can readily assume that the process of engraving the areas which were to be filled with niello, the firing stages, and the finishing stages were very time consuming and therefore costly. Aside from the production end, the niello cases also had to be designed by artists who would pre-determine the subject matter and then the cases were finished by engravers who produced the fine details.
What is the design on the dust cover of the watch?
Longines, Omega and other Universal Exhibitions Medals Universal Exhibitions were World's fairs originating in the French tradition of national exhibitions, a tradition that culminated with the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 held in Paris. This fair was soon followed by other national exhibitions in continental Europe, and eventually the United Kingdom. Many of the dust covers on the Longines Pocket Watches from the 1900s exhibit the Universal Exhibitions Awards Medals. Longines won a record of ten Grand Prix and 28 Gold Medals, more than any other watch manufacturer! These include 1885 Grand Prix in Antqerp; 1897 in Brussels; 1889, 1900 & 1925 in Paris; 1906 in Milan; 1914 in Genoa; 1914 in Philadelphia; and 1926 & 1929 in Barcelona. Though Longines and Omega dominated the Medals, there were others that were awarded with the Universal Exhibition Medals.
Quarter Repeater
The quarter repeater strikes the number of hours, and then the number of quarter hours since the last hour. The mechanism uses 2 chimes of different tones. The low tone usually signals the hours, and the high tone the quarter hours. As an example, if the time is 2:45, the quarter repeater sounds 2 low tones and after a short pause 3 high ones: "dong, dong, ding, ding, ding". Alternatively, some use a pair of tones to distinguish the quarter hours: "dong, dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong"
Lever Escapement
An escapement is a device in mechanical watches and clocks that transfers energy to the timekeeping element (the "impulse action") and allows the number of its oscillations to be counted (the "locking action"). The impulse action transfers energy to the clock's timekeeping element (usually a pendulum or balance wheel) to replace the energy lost to friction during its cycle and keep the timekeeper oscillating. The escapement is driven by force from a coiled spring or a suspended weight, transmitted through the timepiece's gear train. Each swing of the pendulum or balance wheel releases a tooth of the escapement's escape wheel gear, allowing the clock's gear train to advance or "escape" by a fixed amount. This regular periodic advancement moves the clock's hands forward at a steady rate. At the same time the tooth gives the timekeeping element a push, before another tooth catches on the escapement's pallet, returning the escapement to its "locked" state. The sudden stopping of the escapement's tooth is what generates the characteristic "ticking" sound heard in operating mechanical clocks and watches.
Stem-wind, Lever-Set Movements
Mandatory for all railroad w
Description
| Movement: | Mechanical: Hand-winding | Features: | 12-Hour Dial |
| Year of Manufacture: | 1890-1899 | Escapement Type: | Lever |
| Material: | Sterling Silver with Rose Gold and Niello Enamel | Serial Number: | 74,634 |
| Closure: | Full Hunter |
Swiss; Le Phare; Man’s; Serial # 74,634; Circa: 1890
CASE: The sterling silver 18-size No. 74,634 hunter case displays geometric, enamel and niello designs.
DIAL: This white porcelain single sunk dial features Arabic numerals and filigree hands.
MOVT: The 16-size lever-set No. 74,634 gilt movement has a lever escapement and a ¾-plate layout.
C 2 (The case is in perfect condition)
D 2 (The dial is in perfect condition)
M 2 (The movement is in perfect condition)
R 9 (Rarity on a scale of #1 being very common to #10 being extremely rare)
Expert’s Opinion: Super clean Niello repeater. These are usually chipped but this one is perfect. A collector’s watch for sure! AI-179-27 Niello
The niello watch case became a canvas for outstanding art works that will likely never be duplicated. The term niello comes from the Latin word nigellum that is the diminutive of niger (black.) It was a technique used by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Persians. Niello is a black or blackish-blue composition of lead, silver, copper, sulfur and ammonium chloride. The mixture is fused onto an engraved or cut-out metal base by firing the mix in a process similar to champleve' enameling. Silver was the most often used metal for niello objects since the soft white silver color contrasted beautifully with the darker niello. Rose-gold inlay work was also seen in combination with niello and tri-color effects were achieved by the use of rose-gold, niello and silver. When the niello was heated and fired onto a silver watch case, it actually fused with the silver very strongly, almost as if it were soldered in place. The niello would be filled, finished and polished, leaving the surface of the watch case smooth and flat. One can readily assume that the process of engraving the areas which were to be filled with niello, the firing stages, and the finishing stages were very time consuming and therefore costly. Aside from the production end, the niello cases also had to be designed by artists who would pre-determine the subject matter and then the cases were finished by engravers who produced the fine details. What is the design on the dust cover of the watch?
Longines, Omega and other Universal Exhibitions Medals Universal Exhibitions were World's fairs originating in the French tradition of national exhibitions, a tradition that culminated with the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 held in Paris. This fair was soon followed by other national exhibitions in continental Europe, and eventually the United Kingdom. Many of the dust covers on the Longines Pocket Watches from the 1900s exhibit the Universal Exhibitions Awards Medals. Longines won a record of ten Grand Prix and 28 Gold Medals, more than any other watch manufacturer! These include 1885 Grand Prix in Antqerp; 1897 in Brussels; 1889, 1900 & 1925 in Paris; 1906 in Milan; 1914 in Genoa; 1914 in Philadelphia; and 1926 & 1929 in Barcelona. Though Longines and Omega dominated the Medals, there were others that were awarded with the Universal Exhibition Medals. Quarter Repeater
The quarter repeater strikes the number of hours, and then the number of quarter hours since the last hour. The mechanism uses 2 chimes of different tones. The low tone usually signals the hours, and the high tone the quarter hours. As an example, if the time is 2:45, the quarter repeater sounds 2 low tones and after a short pause 3 high ones: "dong, dong, ding, ding, ding". Alternatively, some use a pair of tones to distinguish the quarter hours: "dong, dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong" Lever Escapement
An escapement is a device in mechanical watches and clocks that transfers energy to the timekeeping element (the "impulse action") and allows the number of its oscillations to be counted (the "locking action"). The impulse action transfers energy to the clock's timekeeping element (usually a pendulum or balance wheel) to replace the energy lost to friction during its cycle and keep the timekeeper oscillating. The escapement is driven by force from a coiled spring or a suspended weight, transmitted through the timepiece's gear train. Each swing of the pendulum or balance wheel releases a tooth of the escapement's escape wheel gear, allowing the clock's gear train to advance or "escape" by a fixed amount. This regular periodic advancement moves the clock's hands forward at a steady rate. At the same time the tooth gives the timekeeping element a push, before another tooth catches on the escapement's pallet, returning the escapement to its "locked" state. The sudden stopping of the escapement's tooth is what generates the characteristic "ticking" sound heard in operating mechanical clocks and watches. Stem-wind, Lever-Set Movements
Mandatory for all railroad w