Georges Auguste Leschot

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Georges Auguste Leschot
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Georges Auguste Leschot also Georges Auguste (born March 24, 1800 in Geneva , † February 4, 1884 in Plainpalais ) was a Swiss industrialist , watchmaker and inventor .

Life

Georges Auguste Leschot was born on March 24, 1800 in Geneva as the son of the watchmaker Jean-Frédéric Leschot (1747–1824). He attended school in Geneva. In 1812 he came to his uncle, a pastor, in Bévilard , who then continued to teach him. In 1816 he returned to Geneva and learned watchmaking from the watchmaker Chanson and then stonemason from Babault . Immediately after completing his apprenticeship, he started his own business with various partners, manufacturing and selling watches . Even as an apprentice , he visited the doctor, Dr. Alexis Chuit, who made his library available to him. There he acquired the theoretical knowledge.

In 1829 he married Charlotte Thérèse Françoise Chuit, the doctor's daughter.

Georges Auguste Leschot died on February 4, 1884 at the age of 84 in the Plainpalais (today the municipality of Geneva).

Services

Diamond drill bit with core tube from Leschot
  • In 1825 he improved the anchor escapement invented by Thomas Mudge by inventing the "pull angle" on the anchor pallets. Thanks to this improvement, the lever escapement replaced almost all other escapements on portable watches in the second half of the 19th century.
  • In 1839 Leschot started at the watch factory Vacheron Constantin as technical manager and introduced the series production of watch movements with the machine tools he had invented , which considerably improved the precision and quality of pocket watches .
  • In 1840 he designed a pantograph for watchmaking on behalf of Vacheron-Constantin , which allowed the simple duplication of the same parts in different sizes. Leschot attached great importance to the interchangeability of components, which led to cost reductions and more economical production.
  • In 1857 he developed a method for drilling hard rock using a diamond drill . In the same year the diamond drill was used for the first time on a machine working with an air compressor when building the tunnel through Mont Cenis .
  • Leschot was also involved in founding a watch factory in Cluses ( Haute-Savoie ), where he promoted vocational training for girls.

Georges Auguste Leschot brought many inventions to technical maturity over the course of 60 years. He was a successful pioneer in mechanical watch production in Switzerland.

Awards

  • In 1851 he became a member of the Société des Arts (Geneva Art Society)
  • In 1845 he received the coveted "Auguste de la Rive" award from the Societé des Arts as an award for special pioneering achievements in the field of watchmaking.
  • In 1876 he received the gold medal of the Société des Arts as an award for the method of drilling hard rock using a diamond drill

literature

  • Georges Auguste Leschot. In: Curt Dietzschold : The Cornelius Nepos the watchmaker. Krems 1910, p. 45f

Web links

Commons : Georges Auguste Leschot  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lukas Stolberg: Lexicon of the pocket watch ; Carinthia Verlag; Klagenfurt 1995; ISBN 3-85378-423-2 ; P. 125f
  2. ↑ Fritz von Osterhausen: Callweys lexicon ; Munich 1999; ISBN 3-7667-1353-1 ; P. 190
  3. ↑ Emo Descovich: Technique of the depth ; Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung; Stuttgart 1932; P. 15
  4. ↑ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon 1905–1909: Tiefbohrer Zeno
  5. ↑ a b Barbara Roth: Georges Leschot. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 18, 2009 , accessed June 7, 2019 .
  6. ↑ uhren-wiki: Leschot, Georges-Auguste
personal data
SURNAME Leschot, Georges Auguste
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Leschot, Georges – Auguste
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss watchmaker and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1800
PLACE OF BIRTH Geneva
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1884
Place of death Plain Palace