RARE ALBERT H.POTTER SERIAL#20 18KT TRADE MARK CASE
EARLIEST COMPLETE NUMBER HUNTING CASE 55M ON RECORD
| Start Price |
USD 45,000.00 |
| Current Price |
USD 45,000.00 |
| Time Left |
- |
| Bid Count |
0 |
| Buy It Now Price |
USD 55,000.00 |
| Reserve Price |
- |
| Start Time |
Monday, June 30, 2008 |
| End Time |
Thursday, July 10, 2008 |
| Location |
NEW YORK, NY |
|
See more about 'RARE ALBERT H.POTTER SERIAL#20 18KT TRADE MARK CASE'
|
Description
****************NO PAYPAL ACCEPTED FROM OVERSEAS,JUST WIRES*********You are bidding on a very rare ALBERT H. POTTER HUNTING CASE SERIAL #20. THE WATCH IS A VERY LARGE 55mm IN SIZE AND IS A 18KT HUNTING CASE.THIS IS THE EARLIEST KNOWN NUMBER OF THE PRODUCTION NUMBERS RECORDED FOR A COMPLETE TRADE MARK POTTER CASE & NUMBER COMPLETE AND ORIGINAL.The watch is mint thru-out and has the trade mark case that is in the earliest known examples!!!!! *************************WRITTEN BY PHILIP PONIZ WATCH EXPERT**************************************** Albert H. Potter (1836-1908) is a remarkable figure in horology. Of the three most eminent American horologists who emigrated to Europe – the others were Aaron Lufkin Dennison and Florentine Ariosto Jones - Potter holds a special place. He is the only one whom Genevan watchmakers accepted as their equal - perhaps even considering him their superior at times. Potter’s innovativeness in horology, as well as the quality and finish of his work, were unsurpassed. Potter was born in Mechanicville, near Saratoga, in New York State. His father, William Lawrence Potter—a miller who had a lumber and grist mill in neighboring Ushers—was also a school teacher at Vischers Ferry, today a nature preserve. It was there that he met and married Albert’s future mother, Eliza Van Vranken. They had four children, of whom Albert was the second. Albert’s mother died relatively young and his father married her sister Barbara, a common practice of the day. Together they had three daughters. Albert grew up in a mechanical household; his father was also quite an intelligent mechanic. For instance, on October 11, 1875, Potter’s father applied for a patent for improvements in time locks, which was granted on October 14 of the following year. The cleverly constructed device is based on “capillary attraction”. In 1852, at the age of sixteen, Potter was apprenticed to the watchmaking firm Wood and Foley in Albany, NY. At that time Albany was home to several interesting watchmakers, including J.H. Mulford, who improved the verge escapement, and E.P. Monroe who invented a simple digital calendar clock with falling digital plates. Around 1860 Fasoldt settled there as well. Three years later Potter moved to New York City, opening a repair shop at 19 John Street. Later, he moved to 84 Nassau Street and began de-signing and manufac-turing watches. Although production was limited to no more than 35 gold watches, all were of very high quality and highly priced for the period: from US$ 200 to over $ 300, while most good quality gold watches at the time sold for $ 50. Potter used lever or pivoted detent escapements, sometimes with a fusee, sometimes with going barrels. It is also rumored that a duplex escapement watch dates back to his New York years. In 1861, despite the fact that his New York business was doing well, Potter moved to Havana and opened a small but prosperous watchmaking shop. There he continued his repair business and also made watches, including repeaters and watches with duplex escapements. In 1866 he returned to the United States, settling in Williamsburg, New York. It was here that his design ideas began to materialize; he patented an interesting chronometer escapement on January 21, 1868 and was apparently preparing to start a larger scale operation. That same year he went to Minneapolis, where he remained until 1870. Subsequently he moved to Chicago, where he and his brother William opened the “Potter Brothers” firm, for manufacturing and retailing. The partner-ship lasted only five years, with William continuing the business upon his brother’s departure. In his early years in Chicago, Potter also worked for the Roddin & Hamilton Company, most likely a watch retailing and repairing business. According to one of his former colleagues, Mr. Hansen, who recollected his former bench-mate during an interview given by Major Chamberlain, Potter was the best “workman and artist, shaping the standards of fine shops in Chicago”. During this time, Potter also further improved his ideas, some of which he patented. Between August and October 1875 Potter submit-ted the following to the US Patent Office: 1. Trademark, which he used later on most of his cases, registered on October 5 under the No. 3016. 2. Safety barrel, patent No. 168581 of October 11, used in most of his watches built in Geneva. It reduces the risk of damage to the train in the event of a mainspring breakage. 3. Pivoted detent escapement, patent No. 168582 of October 11, which, with slight modification, was the base for his famous chronometer movement. The energy loss of unlocking his escapement is less dependant on the state of winding, and conse-quently the balance amplitude change is smaller and the degree of isochronism greater. The unlocking angle is smaller thereby reducing the risk of setting. 4. Compensation balance with auxiliary Middle Temperature Error attachments, patent No. 168583 of October 11, employed in his marine chronometer No 110, made for William W. Griscom of Philadelphia, circa 1880. 5. Watch plate design submitted October 11, patent No. DE8888 granted on January 4, 1876, forming the base for the chronometer ebauche. It was also in Chicago that Potter built the prototype for his famous chronometer based on the above-mentioned patents. Potter made the movements himself, most likely having them cased by the Joseph H. Bauer firm. One of Bauer’s apprentices, Horace Jacobsen, told of Potter and Bauer’s friendship, and said that Potter used Bauer’s furnace to fuse the brass and steel used for his balances. (3.) Pivoted detent escapement, patent No. 168582 of October 11, 1875. In 1875 Potter left the United States for Geneva where he spent the remaining 33 years of his life. It was there that he produced the majority of his famous watches based on the ideas and designs that he had worked on for almost 15 years in America, among them watches based on the principles patented on October 11, 1875, which gained him unprecedented fame. Potter settled at 7 Rue de Mont-Blanc (just across the street from where Antiquorum is located today, where his horological genius won him a very appreciative clientele. His mechanical skills and exten-sive knowledge of physics helped him to excel, and his talent was soon recognized by the Gene-van watchmakers. Potter’s watches were not only superbly finished, they were also superior timekeepers. He developed about a dozen esca-pements, improved the going barrel with a safety design, and made a superior pivoted detent along with a number of other innovations, some of which were patented, others not. According to one of his workmen, Jean-Louis Alphonse Pavid, Potter not only made improvements in his watches, but also in his tools. For instance, he employed a ruby cutter for his pinions, which formed the leaves and polished them at the same time. Cottet, an automaton maker, told an automaton maker, told Chamberlain that “it was the ambition of nearly every exceptional artist to work for Potter and that he had “kindly way of spurring men on to improve their work”. Pavid was himself an eminent adjuster and invented a very interesting micrometric regulator with beat adjustment that was em-ployed in some of the best watches, including tourbillons. Pavid’s watches were entered into numerous Geneva and Kew Observatory Timing Contests, competing against such giants as Patek Philippe and Vacheron & Constantin. They earned fifth place in 1888 and fourth place in 1914. Potter was chosen as a member of the “Commission de Surveillance de l’Ecole d’Horlo-gerie”, along with Meylan, Ekegren and Jurgensen. Like most excep-tional watch-makers of his day, Potter designed his ebaches and had them made by some-one else. Albert H. Potter & Co., Geneva, No. 486, circa 1880.ä Very interesting 18K gold, moon phase astronomical watch with unusual perpetual indication of the date. Machining an ebauche is a relatively simple job—it is really in the finish and adjustment that the skills of a horologist are tested. Potter did not waste his time and talent on simple machining; he utilized his talents for making the escapement and finishing the piece. It appears that Potter’s ebauches were made by Rannaz Co.; an American collector has a very interesting Potter watch punched under the dial with the Rannaz trademark in an emblem resembling a bugle. Potter’s watches were not cheap -- indeed, they were quite expensive. A lever escapement cost US$ 250; a five-minute repeater $ 300; a minute-repeater $ 400; a minute repeater with added chronograph $ 500; and a minute repeater with perpetual calendar sold for $ 625. Potter’s chef d’oeuvre is arguably a remarkable watch with unidirectional constant force escapement with a self-starting feature. Of over 90 Potter watches known to exist today, this is one of the most extraordinary—a strong statement considering that all his watches are exceptionally well-finished. This watch is magnificent in its conception and execution, down to the very last detail. It has a constant force escapement always giving an impulse with the same force and only in the center of the impulse pallet, thereby reducing the danger of irregularities caused from sliding off the let-off corner. Unlocking irregularities are minimized by placing the unlocking pallet very close to the detent arbor, thus considerably reducing momentum and making it less dependent on the pressure exerted by the escape wheel, which varies with the state of winding. Possibly the most unusual aspect is the self-starting feature. In unidirectional impulse escape-ments, one must jolt the watch to make it start. This is not the case here; it ingeniously employs the stopping device found in early “perpetuelle” watches which blocked the weight when fully wound. Potter, however, modi-fied it to stop the balance. Furthermore, the stopping de-vice does not lock it at any arbi-trary point, but after one of the quarter screws, always with tension on the balance spring. Conse-quently, when the watch is wound and the balance released, the tension stored in the balance spring is enough to swing the balance to unlock the escape wheel, which winds the hammer, and gives an impulse to the balance. Although Henry Motel experimented with a similar arrangement, in his chronometers the locking was manual. There are numerous other small details in Potter’s chef d’oeuvre that perhaps only a watchmaker can fully appreciate: the spotting on the plates is done with an indexing machine which moves outwards from the center, giving a sparkling appearance; the setting lever is constructed so that when the canon pinion tension is correctly set, backwards setting becomes impossible. The patented safety barrel is unique to Potter. The double click assures smooth winding and somewhat lessens the recoil. The high number of jewels, even on the barrel arbor, is further proof of Potter’s careful finishing. One Potter watch, described by Reinhard Meis as “probably one of the most interesting tourbillons ever made” (sold by Antiquorum on November 1, 1998, lot 461), is the twelve-second tourbillon with the rotating carriage around the stationary escape wheel and unique arrangement for the banking pins. No other maker is known to have attempted anything like it. Two other Potter tourbillon watches are known, one that appears to employ an Edward Howard ebauche (National Time Museum, Chicago) and another in a private collection. Another unique piece by Potter is a watch with perpetual date - not perpetual calendar but, indeed, perpetual date. Its mechanism, which displays only the date, actually “knows” the lengths of the months and leap years. No other watch like it is known to exist. Detail of movement by Albert H. Potter & Co. Geneva, No. 41 , made circa 1877. 18K gold, hunting-cased, keyless pocket chronometer. Around 1886, Potter designed a reliable but inexpensive watch, “the best watch $4.00 could buy”. The idea for an inexpensive watch was in the air since the 1860’s, and the first mass-produced inexpensive watches appeared in 1870 in Switzerland and in America. The American pioneer was the Waterbury Watch Co, which launched its inexpensive “longwind” in the late 1870’s. A few years later Potter, in a complete turnabout to his previous work, and no doubt impressed by the success of Waterbury, decided to try his luck in the cheap watch market. His principal idea was to make the back plate of the movement an integral part of the case, so that the case body and back plate could be stam-ped from sheet stock in one blow, with no machining neces-sary. The design was protected by a series of Swiss, American and English patents: US patent No. 360477 (Apr 5, 1887) for a “watch case & movement plate combined” US patent No. 360478 (Apr 5, 1887) for a “watch case center and pendant” US patent No. 360818 (Apr 5, 1887) for a “manufacturing watch plate & case” US patent No. 360819 (Apr 5, 1887) for a “watch plate” US patent No. 418381 of Dec 31, 1889 for “watch stem-wind case part of watch”. US patent No. 425342 of Apr 8, 1890, for “watch stem-wind case part of watch”. Swiss patent No. 3647 of June 16, 1891 for a “montre perfectionnée”. Albert H. Potter & Co. Geneva, No. 744, made circa 1885. Exceptional and certainly unique, 18K gold, hunting-cased, keyless, constant force chronometer escapement watch with self-starting and automatic balance-locking features. All the American patents were assigned to the “New Haven Watch Co. of New Jersey” (Trenton Watch Co.), meaning that the Trenton company must have paid for these patents, apparently with the intention of producing Potter’s watch. Crossman, writing about the Trenton Watch Company in 1888, announced that the Potter watch would be launched very soon. However, the company ultimately chose a design by the company’s superintendent S.T.J. Byam. After the failure of the partnership with the Trenton Watch Co, Potter and his partner Theodore W. Burger entrusted the manufacturing of the design to J.J. Badollet, whose factory was located outside Geneva, in Charmilles (hence the watch’s name, Charmilles). Production lasted from the early 1890’s until 1895. The watch consisted of 70 parts, not including screws and sold for between $3.00 and $4.00. Probably no more than 25,000 were ever made. They were of 18 size (slightly less than 20’’’), with nickel plates often decorated with “Geneva stripes”, straight line calibrated lever escapements with circular pallets as in most American watches, monometallic non-magnetic balances, and a flat non-magnetic balance spring. The escapement had a single roller table with a Swiss oval roller jewel. The balance arm was thicker in the center so that the balance staff could be friction-fit rather than riveted. The train was typically American in construction and in appearance: center wheel 64/10, 3rd wheel 60/8, 4th wheel 70/8, escape wheel 15/7. With the exception of the center wheel, all wheels were mounted not on the pinions but staked directly on the arbor. The beat was 18,000. The winding/setting mechanism consisted of two gears vertical to the watch plates, with square center holes, loosely mounted on the stem. They were held in position by special slots cut into a bracket screwed onto the case/back plate. The stem was cleverly designed so that in the winding position its square engages the winding pinion while the setting pinion turns loosely with the rotation of the motion train. In the setting mode, the stem’s square engages the setting pinion, thus releasing the winding pinion. The setting lever consisted of a spring which exerted pressure on a small pear-shaped part of the stem. It was a good design, worth marketing. However, neither Potter nor Burger had the necessary funds, and furthermore Badollet was in financial difficulty. Its inventory was sold around 1894, and the creditors, among them Potter and Burger, were reimbursed 25 cents to the dollar. Potter made inventions outside the field of horology as well: a “horseless carriage” and a chainless bicycle operated by two levers which he designed and patented in 1899. Around 1890 Potter developed serious spinal problems, a problem common to many watchmakers, which left him partially paralyzed. He died in 1908. The approximately 100 watches of his making that have survived give strong testimony to his horological genius and strong individuality – clearly, he was a major figure in the horological world of his day. THE WATCH HAS BEEN SERVICED RECENTLY AND COMES WITH A TWO YEAR WARRANTY FROM OUR NYC WATCH STORE.FEEL FREE TO CALL OUR NYC WATCH STORE AT 212 221 6716 OR CALL MY CELL AT 516 313 2263. BID WITH CONFIDENCE,WE ARE TITANUM POWER SELLERS ON EBAY!!!!!! DENNIS NICHINSON
Place a Bid!
|
|
|
Search
Categories
More related categories
 |