Grande Complication # 42500
The Grande Complication No. 42500 is a high quality, historical pocket watch and one of a kind from A. Lange & Söhne .
properties
The Grande Complication No. 42500 pocket watch was built in 1902 by A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte. It is one of the most complicated pocket watches ever made in the world. It has a self- striking striking mechanism with an hourly large and quarter-hour small bells, a minute repeater , a split - seconds chronograph , a stopwatch with split times and fifths of a second. Besides the main dial, the watch has four circular small ads, which are a perpetual calendar on the 12, a day indicator for the current month on the 3, a moon phase - display on the 6 and a day display at the 9th The calendar synchronizes all ads except of the moon every day at exactly zero o'clock. Your movement with nickel-plated main plate of nickel silver consists of 833 items. The watch weighs just under 300 grams. All Arabic numerals and the symbols on the enamel plate are hand painted.
The design of the engraving on the gold case comes from Carl Ludwig Theodor Graff , director of the Royal Saxon School of Applied Arts in Dresden. It was designed and awarded a prize in 1890 for a competition announced by Johannes Dürrstein . The craftsmanship comes from the engraver Gustav Gessner , Glashütte, for the 42500. On the front, the case in the center shows the head of the goddess Minerva as a symbol of the belief in progress of the time. The back of the watch bears the monogram "GS" in the middle. Two birds looking at each other, two horns of plenty and garlands can be seen on either side. The frame of the watch as well as the crown and its bracket are adorned with multi-row, repeating, miniaturized engraved ornaments. The movement is in a 750/1000 red gold watch case in the shape of Louis XV with glazing.
history
The Grande Complication type pocket watch was manufactured by A. Lange & Söhne only as a one -off, as was typical for watch manufacturers at the time for high-quality watches. A manufacturer's "flagship" was a grand complication.
The center for complication watches with a high degree of vertical integration was established in western Switzerland at the end of the 19th century. The Glashütte Union Uhrenfabrik obtained 3 raw works from there for the planned construction of highly complex pocket watches. They were terminated in 1895 on the occasion of the 50th year of the founding of watch manufacturing in Glashütte and offered for sale as a "universal watch". The 42500 is based on such a raw mechanism. The Grande Complication , built in 1902, bears the serial number 42500 and was sold to a Viennese private citizen in Glashütte in August 1902. According to a handwritten entry in the record book of A. Lange & Söhne from the German watch museum Glashütte, the purchase price was 5,600 gold marks . It came back to the manufacturer in 2001 in a completely rusted, incomplete and partially destroyed state. The clockwork was the most damaged; The calendar and bridge were in better restorable condition. During the August floods in the Ore Mountains in 2002 , which affected the company building, the clock was not affected by accident. However, the flood and legal questions with the owner delayed the start of the restoration of the 42500. A. Lange & Söhne finally subjected the watch to a complete restoration from 2003 to 2006 under the direction of Jan Sliva in a team of 5 experts. The effort was 5000 working hours. In contrast to usual restorations, in which the preservation of the original parts is given priority over the functionality of the system, three goals were set in this order for the restoration of this example: First, the watch should look as perfect as possible compared to the time of its manufacture. Second, it should work as perfectly as it did in 1902 , and third, as many original parts as possible should be used. In order to achieve these goals, not only had to make non-recoverable new parts, but tools, molds and processes had to be developed. All screws have been renewed.
In 2010 the example was first exhibited at the SIHH Geneva watch salon . The clock is now on permanent loan in the Mathematical-Physical Salon of the Zwinger in Dresden .
The existence and whereabouts of this watch was discussed again and again in professional circles before its reappearance. Its exact determination, the unique stopwatch mechanism with a fifth of a second accuracy display, the reset mechanism for all functions and the extensive restoration by the manufacturer itself give it a cultural-historical value with an incomparable and inestimably high hypothetical auction value. The fact that their history is not always known and that new parts were used during the restoration does not reduce their value in auction circles. The number of professionals who were eligible for the restoration of this watch to the quality executed was estimated at less than 20 worldwide.
literature
- Grande Complication No. 42500. A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte, 2010. (German and English edition)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Grande Complication No. 42,500
- ↑ Gustav Gessner
- ↑ a b Luxify.de Grande Complication No. 42500
- ↑ a b A. Lange Glashütte & Sons Grande Complication No. 42,500
- ^ A b P. Plaßmeyer: Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon , Dresden, in: Grande Complication No. 42500, A. Lange & Sons. Glashütte 2010. pp. 84f.
- ↑ Note: The equivalent of 5 annual salaries for a teacher at the time
- ↑ Grande Complication No. 42500, A. Lange & Sons. Glashütte 2010. p. 30f
- ↑ Grande Complication No. 42500, A. Lange & Sons. Glashütte 2010. p. 42 and 16
- ↑ Grande Complication No. 42500, A. Lange & Sons. Glashütte 2010. p. 40
- ^ S. Muser, auctioneer. Interview in: Grande Complication No. 42500, A. Lange & Sons. Glashütte 2010. p. 28f.