Bliss & Creighton

Bliss & Creighton, New York, No. 1482, circa 1845Fine and very rare, two-day marine box chronometer with special patented balance and 56-hour winding indicator. brass bowl with threaded glazed bezel gimbaled in three-body brass-bound mahogany box with glazed panel in the top under hinged lid with fitted catch, flush fitted brass handles and circular ivory plate with the signature, Breguet-type key in a corner plate, key-lock in front, gimbals ring locked by swiveling arm pressing sideways against the base of the cylinder. Notes John Bliss (1775-1857).One of a handful of prominent American chronometer makers, at 16, Bliss was apprenticed to Benjamin Lord in Rutland, Vermont. After finishing the apprenticeship, he continued working for him until 1814, when he left Lord, who took Goddard in as a partner, and moved to New York. That same year, hoping to take advantage of the many opportunities awaiting in the West, he moved to Ohio, where he entered into a partnership with Francis Cleveland. After a downturn in business, Bliss moved to New Orleas, where his business flourished. Marvin E. Whitney, the foremost authority on American chronometry, writes that his name "became a household word among maritime people." Despite the success of his business in New Orleans, Bliss returned to New York in 1835, where he took in Frederick Creighton as a partner and the two began advertising as chronometer makers.In the beginning Bliss and Creighton bought "roughout chronometer movemen Read more…