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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Pocket watch · La Chaux-de-Fonds

Onion watch

Verified

A blued steel hand, shaped like an arrow, indicates the hours painted on the white enamel dial.

Technical facts

Inventory number
MIH I-17
Object type
Pocket watch
Place of production
La Chaux-de-Fonds
Dating
1710 - 1730
Materials and techniques (catalogue wording)
laiton, émail
Dimensions (catalogue)
dimensions min/max: 51 x 60 mm
Inscriptions (catalogue)
JACOB BRANDT (Mouvement)

Historical significance

  • A blued steel hand, shaped like an arrow, indicates the hours painted on the white enamel dial.
  • The brass movement, which is not gilded, signed Jacob Brandt, is fitted with four Egyptian pillars. It is unusual, as it has no fusee: instead, a going barrel meshes directly with the first wheel of the gear train. A steel lever with two pins, which alter the length of the balance spring, replaces the regulating rosette. The free end of the lever moves along a scale from 1 to 5, with the numbers engraved in Arabic numerals on the plate.

Photographs

Onion watch (MIH I-17)
Onion watch (MIH I-17) — Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Museum collection photograph, rights review pending. MIH collection record
Onion watch (MIH I-17)
Onion watch (MIH I-17) — Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Museum collection photograph, rights review pending. MIH collection record
Onion watch (MIH I-17)
Onion watch (MIH I-17) — Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Museum collection photograph, rights review pending. MIH collection record

Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.

Sources & references

  1. Musée international d'horlogerie, online collection record, inv. I-17: https://collection.mih.ch/fr/collection/item/36899/

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.