Lot 91

Ateliers Vaucanson

Hélios

A rare, electromechanically driven Parisian precision wall regulator with jumping centre seconds and Hipp toggle impulse escapement

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The Hipp toggle escapement was invented by Matthäus Hipp in 1838. The aim of this device is to provide an impulse to the pendulum when it's amplitude falls below a set minimum. This device allows the pendulum to swing without any interference most ofthe time andget an impulse only when required.

The company Vaucanson was established in 1914 and bears the name of famous French inventor Jacques Vaucanson (1709–1782), the maker of many famous automata. However, there is no direct connection between the company and the eponymous inventor. The new business emerged from a company which created cinematographs and phonographs under the name Lamazière & Cie or Lamazière & Bünzli later.
The company produced various clocks, albeit at unknown dates, which lie between 1918 and circa 1956. The early clocks have an "E" pendulum, while the later ones feature a cylinder pendulum. The model was called "Helios".
Some of the clocks are fitted with a fine adjustment system on the case, a very sophisticated type of regulation without removing the case. The system works with an antimagnetic steel cylinder moving up and down to affect the coil. The system is used in early as well as later models. The company was bought by Ericsson in 1955 an after several other commercial takeovers finally closed down in 1980.
Source: www.wp.clockdoc.org