Description |
APW - Waltham, P.S. Bartlett with extremely rare James' patent regulator, mvt marked "James' Patent, Dec. 27, 1859, No. 80.," pre-Civil War era, Model 1859, 15J, 18S, silver original Am. Watch Co. HC with eagle hallmark and inchworm-style logo, nickel cuvette, white enamel SS dial, KWKS (key not included with this lot), coiled bi-metallic James' patent compensation curb on balance cock with terminal end joined to hairspring end, regulator needle extending to an index on main plate, gilt mvt, s#41642.
A very rare and interesting early American watch, this is only the fifth example of a movement with James' regulator that this cataloger recalls having seen, with three of these five having been Model 1859 Waltham. Interestingly each of these three Model 1859 examples has had a two-digit serial number with its James' Patent marking. Henry Boehm James of Trenton, New Jersey was awarded U.S. patent number 26593 on December 27th, 1859 for his distinctive regulator design (and please see our final two photos for digital images of this patent).
This lot's movement is from a production run listed in Waltham factory records as having been completed during February of 1861. Our consignor notes that this movement has a single locator pin that matches with the single locator hole in its case, and they further note that the regulator coil of James' design acts much like a thermometer, expanding and contracting based on temperature to effectively lengthen or shorten the hairspring as its means of regulation.
CONDITION: Mvt: Running, fine cosmetic mvt condition overall, uneven tone to main plate with area of differing tone, some scattered small surface spots, some short fine scratches and small nicks around case screw location, oxide to winding escutcheon; excellent dial with few very small flakes around rim of seconds-register hole, small flake to upper-right rim of center hole, tiny fine scratch at perimeter near 5:30; excellent hands, some areas of finish loss to minute, small bend to tip of hour; case shows medium wear, dings to right perimeter of rear, few lesser dings elsewhere to rear, few mild small dings or nicks to front, small dent to lower portion of cuvette, reduced engine turning detail with full loss through shoulders and some portions of full loss to more central areas, front lift spring allowing lid to tilt a bit back toward closed with gravity, opened case rear falls closed freely with gravity; tight bow, push shows medium wear; good glass crystal.
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