14 - A. Lange & Söhne - Seconde Morte

A. Lange & Söhne - Seconde Morte An extremely rare Glashuette hunting case pocket watch with independent jumping seconds mechanism "seconde morte" - manufactured in quality 1A and sold on 5 June 1895 to company M. Goldschmidt & Söhne in Prague for 550 Marks Movm. No. 32767, Cal. 41, Case No. 32767, Dimensions 53 mm, circa 1895, Weight 114 g, Origin Deutschland, Original box, Extract from the archives Case: 18 K pink gold, smooth, case design "Lucia". Dial: Enamel. Movm.: 3/4 plate movement, lever escapement, applied "seconde morte"-mechanism, large gold screw compensation balance. Jumping seconds mechanism or "seconde morte" Lange felt that the readability of the jumping auxiliary seconds was not satisfactory in a pocket watch, so he started following another course. By 1867 he had designed a mechanism which allowed an independent large central seconds hand to jump every second. The hand had usually a stop device but could not be reset to zero. 1877 his sons filed a patent for a slightly modified version of A. Lange's mechanism (no. 182). This seconds mechanism on a 3/4 plate created a precision watch which had the indication system of an astronomical pendulum clock but was portable. Case: very good, a dent, slightly worn. Dial: very good. Movm.: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.