Lot 433

Gustav Speckhart

Speckhart Patent

An unusual, walnut-shaped Nuremberg historism verge pocket watch with musical movement

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Gustav Speckhart was born June 7th, 1852 in Schweinau near Nuremberg. After his years of travel he became a master in Nuremberg in 1874; he was appointed Maker to the court in 1893. In 1889 Speckhart received an imperial patent (DRP no. 18835) for "innovations on cases for pocket watches".
Around 1890 watch and clock dealer and collector Carl Marfels commissioned him to build a large automaton clock, the so-called "Passions-Uhr" (passion clock), intended for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. It took Speckhard three years to build the clock, which caused quite a sensation in Chicago. Unfortunely the clock was destroyed in 1897 during a fire at the Gelders Exhibition in Arnheim. Commissioned by Junghans, Speckhart created a reproduction of the clock, which was exhibited at the Paris World Fair in 1900 for advertising the Junghans company. Today this clock is owned by the town museum in Schramberg. Gustav Speckhart died on June 10, 1919.