7 - A. Lange Dresden - Seconde Morte

A. Lange Dresden - Seconde Morte A very early, museum-quality Glashütte pocket watch movement with an independent jumping seconds mechanism, "seconde morte" Movement No. 2249, Dimensions 47 mm, circa 1860, Weight 86 g, Origin: Germany Case: Brass showcase, glazed. Dial: Enamel. Movement: 2/3-plate movement, key-wound, lever escapement, gold-screw-compensated balance. Since Adolf Lange found the readability of the small running seconds unsatisfactory for certain—most likely scientific—purposes, he developed a mechanism for a “jumping seconds” display as early as the mid-1860s. However, only a few movements were produced using this system. The name “dead seconds” (French: seconde morte) derives from the fact that the seconds hand remains stationary between one second step and the next. In 1877, about 100 years after Jean-Moïse Pouzait first developed the seconde-morte mechanism, A. Lange & Söhne in Glashütte (Saxony) patented a seconds mechanism with a jumping hand, in a design further refined by Richard Lange and powered by a single mainspring barrel. It was registered as Imperial Patent No. 182 on August 3, 1877. Source: www.glashuetteuhren.de Case: very good. Dial: very good. Movement: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.