14 - A. Lange & Söhne - Seconde Morte

A. Lange & Söhne - Seconde Morte An extremely rare Glashütte hunting-case pocket watch with an independent jumping seconds mechanism, "seconde morte"—manufactured in 1A quality and sold on June 5, 1895, to the firm 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: Germany, Original box, Extract from the archives Case: 18K rose gold, smooth, “Lucia” case design. Dial: Enamel. Movement: 3/4-plate movement, lever escapement, applied “seconde morte” mechanism, large gold-screw-compensated balance. Jumping seconds mechanism or “seconde morte”: Lange felt that the readability of the jumping auxiliary seconds was unsatisfactory in a pocket watch, so he began exploring a different approach. By 1867, he had designed a mechanism that allowed an independent large central seconds hand to jump every second. The hand usually had a stop device but could not be reset to zero. In 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 resulted in a precision watch that featured the display system of an astronomical pendulum clock but was portable. Case: very good, one dent, slightly worn. Dial: very good. Movement: very good, in working order, cleaning recommended.