20,700 CHF
Charles Fasoldt, Rome NY, No. 61, circa 1863. Very fine and rare 18K gold, hunting-cased, keyless patented pocket chronometer with special escapement and duo-in-uno balance spring. Five-body, “bassine et filets”, both covers engine-turned, gold hinged cuvette. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions, subsidiary sunk seconds. Blued steel hands. Notes Two American watchmakers of the second half of the 19th century stand out among all others: Potter and Fasoldt. The latter, a very colorful individual, was born in Germany in 1818, received a death sentence for taking part in the 1848 Revolution, escaped from prison and sailed to the United States. He began making watches in Rome, New York and subsequently moved to Albany, where he established an impressive enterprise for the making of clocks, micrometric gratings, microscopes and, of course, his famous watches. He sold them for between $150 and $300 each, which was expensive at the time. They were made according to his very individual design. Almost all of them employed his patented chronometer lever escapement.The escapement in the present watch (patented on Feb 1, 1859) is remarkably reliable. It requires no oil, has very strong draw on both locking pallets, and setting is practically impossible. Fasoldt performed an interesting and picturesque experiment demonstrating the reliability of his escapement he tied his watch, along with other maker's watches, to the driving rod of the Empire Express locomo
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-10-11
