Lot 60

A. Lange & Söhne

Observatory Pula

A rare, exquisite Glashuette half seconds beating deck chronometer with pivoted detent chronometer escapement and helical balance spring, assembled and regulated by the great Glashuette regleur and chronometer maker Gustav Gerstenberger (1886 to 1983) and sold on October 25, 1913 for 260 marks to the Imperial Hydrographical Institute in Pola. A total of only 41 pieces were produced by Lange & Söhne

Pocket chronometers with barrel are considered to be the precursors to deck watches. Lange & Soehne originally produced pocket chronometers with going barrels for scientific purposes. Often set in wooden boxes, they were to be used as deck chronometers on ships. Following this style the watches were designed with 14,400 alternations per hour; as a result the second hand was able to jump every half second. The watches all have pivoted detent escapements, which were designed in two different styles: one version was the chronometer escapement according to Berthoud, the other the escapement according to Julius Grossmann, which had an additional safety lever to prevent the escapement wheel from going on once the balance had been taken out.
Source: "A. Lange & Soehne" by Reinhard Meis, Munich 1997, page 211f.