Pocket watches · Form
Skeletonised Pocket Watches
Partially verifiedWatches whose plates and bridges are cut away and often engraved so that the working train is visible through the dial and/or back.
Mechanism
Skeletonisation is a decorative treatment of an otherwise conventional movement; material is removed from the plates and bridges while leaving pivots and functional bearing surfaces intact, which demands careful engineering to preserve rigidity.
Typical characteristics
- Openworked plates and bridges
- Transparent or absent dial to expose the movement
- Fine hand engraving or piercing on the remaining metal
Identification characteristics
- Visible train through pierced plates
- Quality varies widely: compare piercing precision and pivot support
Collector significance
A showcase for finishing skill rather than a functional complication in itself; often applied to otherwise ordinary movements.
Known variations
- Fully skeletonised
- Partially openworked (half-skeleton)
Photographs
Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.
Sources & references
- General horological surveys
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.