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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Switzerland · In use by the 17th–18th centuries; the name reflects long association with Geneva, not a confirmed single inventor or filing date

Geneva Stop (Maltese Cross Stopwork)

Needs research

Allowed reliable mainspring protection in going-barrel watches without the bulk of a fusee, supporting the trend toward thinner watches.

A five-pointed (or similar) Maltese-cross-shaped wheel is driven by a finger on the barrel arbor so that the barrel can only be wound through a limited number of turns before the finger is blocked by the solid part of the cross, protecting the mainspring from overwinding without a fusee.

The mechanism is closely associated with Geneva-trade watchmaking history, but no single confirmed inventor or patent record has been established in the sources consulted for this project.

How to verify this yourself

Consult the Musée International d'Horlogerie (La Chaux-de-Fonds) and Geneva's Musée d'Art et d'Histoire horology holdings for dated examples; do not cite a specific inventor or patent number without direct archival confirmation, none having been found in project research.

Manufacturers known to have used it

  • Many Swiss going-barrel watch manufacturers, 18th–19th centuries, and revived decoratively in some modern haute horlogerie movements

Sources & references

  1. Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva — horology collection (existence noted)
  2. Cutmore, M., Watches 1850–1980

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