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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Pocket watches · Form

Skeletonised Pocket Watches

Partially verified

Watches 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)

Related photographs

E. Mathey-Tissot minute-repeater, c. 1909
E. Mathey-Tissot minute-repeater, c. 1909 — Mathey-Tissot, CC BY-SA 2.5. Wikimedia Commons file page
John Leroux - Repeater Watch with the Judgement of Paris - Walters 58183
John Leroux - Repeater Watch with the Judgement of Paris - Walters 58183 — John Leroux (active ca. 1750-1800) (Clockmaker) George Michael Moser (English, 1704-1783), Public domain. Wikimedia Commons file page
Gallet minute repeater
Gallet minute repeater — Time Maven at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Wikimedia Commons file page

No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.

Sources & references

  1. General horological surveys

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