The Origins of Self-Winding Watches

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The Origins of Self-Winding Watches THE ORIGINS OF SELF-WINDING WATCHES 1773 - 1779 RICHARD WATKINS © Copyright 2013 Richard Watkins All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or for research. Published by: Richard Watkins www.watkinsr.id.au Printed in the Australia by: Ligare ligare.com.au Limited edition of 100 copies Cover photograph: Courtesy of the Musée d’horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts, Le Locle, Switzerland. Contents 1: Prelude ..................................................1 1.1: The History of a History. 1 1.2: The Structure of the Book ...............................5 1.3: The Concept of a Self-Winding Mechanism .................6 1.4: Four General Principles and Some Terms ..................6 1.5: Clockwise and Anti-clockwise Motion. .8 1.6: Acknowledgements .....................................9 2: A Credible History. .11 3: Early Watches Before 1773 .................................13 3.1: Before 1750 ..........................................13 3.2: A 1750 Watch ........................................17 4: German and Austrian Makers ..............................19 4.1: A Few Hints .........................................19 4.2: Joseph Tlustos .......................................20 4.3: Joseph Thustas .......................................23 4.4: Joseph Gallmayr (1716-1790) ...........................24 4.5: Forrer ..............................................30 5: Perrelet .................................................33 5.1: Early Documents .....................................33 5.2: A Question of Names ..................................37 5.3: Abram Louys Perrelet l’Ancien ..........................39 5.4: Watches .............................................47 5.5: Watch Making .......................................51 6: Other Swiss Makers .......................................53 6.1: Jonas Perret-Jeanneret ................................53 6.2: Moÿse Gevril .........................................53 6.3: Meuron .............................................54 iii 7: Hubert Sarton ...........................................55 7.1: Biography ...........................................55 7.2: Documents ..........................................56 7.3: Explanation of the Rotor Mechanism .....................62 7.4: Planetary Gears ......................................73 7.5: The Problem of Decoupling .............................81 7.6: Performance of the Rotor Mechanism .....................82 7.7: Watches .............................................84 8: Louis Recordon (1756-1826) ................................87 8.1: Biography ...........................................87 8.2: Recordon’s 1780 Patent ................................87 8.3: Patent Renewal ......................................96 8.4: Watches .............................................97 8.5: Documents ..........................................97 9: Abraham-Louis Breguet ..................................103 9.1: Biography ..........................................103 9.2: Documents .........................................104 9.3: Watches with Barrel Remontoirs .......................105 9.4: Breguet’s Side-Weight Mechanism ......................116 9.5: The Equilibrium Spring ...............................117 9.6: Performance of the Side-Weight Mechanism ..............118 9.6: Watches ............................................120 10: Saint-Martin ...........................................121 11: Center-Weight Watches ..................................123 12: Philipe DuBois .........................................129 12.1: Biography .........................................129 12.2: Company Organisation ..............................134 12.3: Watches ...........................................135 12.4: Relationship with Perrelet ............................137 12.5: Relationship with Sarton .............................140 iv 12.6: Relationship with Perret Jeanneret ....................143 12.7: Relationship with Recordon ...........................143 12.8: Relationship with Moÿse Gevril .......................144 12.9: Relationship with Meuron ............................145 13: Methodology. 147 13.1: Historical Method ...................................147 13.2: Teapots and Tlustos .................................149 13.3: Inventors, Designers and Makers ......................151 13.4: Examples ..........................................152 14: The Perrelet Hypothesis .................................155 14.1: The Hypothesis. 155 14.2: The Documents .....................................155 14.3: The Leroy Watch ...................................156 14.4: Inventing the Missing Link ...........................157 14.5: The Leroy Watch Movement ..........................160 14.6: The Leroy Watch Case ...............................162 14.7: Conclusions ........................................167 15: The Sarton Hypothesis ..................................169 15.1: The Hypothesis. 169 15.2: Evidence ..........................................169 16: Responses To The Sarton Hypothesis .......................171 16.1: Introduction .......................................171 16.2: The Sarton Lied Hypothesis ..........................171 16.3: The Ordinary Watch Hypothesis .......................174 16.4: The Maintaining Power Hypothesis ....................175 16.5: The Shaking Watch Hypothesis .......................177 16.6: Two Consequences ..................................180 17: The Origin of the Rotor Mechanism ........................183 17.1: Quantitative Comparison. 183 17.2: Context ...........................................184 v 18: In the Beginning, 1773 to 1775. .185 18.1: A Single Person? ....................................185 18.2: Perpetual Motion? ..................................187 18.3: Dissemination ......................................188 18.4: But if there were two people? .........................189 19: Four Hectic Years, 1776 to 1779. 191 19.1: Perrelet and the First Self-Winding Watch ..............191 19.2: Gallmayr the Fretter ................................197 19.3: The Prince de Conti .................................206 19.4: Breguet and the Barrel Remontoir Watch ...............207 19.5: Hubert Sarton ......................................209 19.6: Recordon, Perrelet and Breguet .......................209 19.7: Forrer ............................................212 19.8: The Mystery of the Center-Weight Watch ...............212 20: Postscript .............................................215 20.1: From Innovation to Manufacture ......................215 20.2: The Perrelet Myth ..................................215 Appendix 1: Documentation .................................219 A1.1: Map of the Main Locations ...........................219 A1.2: References ........................................220 A1.3: Tertiary Sources. .228 Appendix 2: DuBois Case Makers. 231 A2.1: Available Evidence. 231 A2.2: Case Makers 1758-1824. 233 A2.3: Case Production 1758-1794 ...........................237 A2.4: Case Signatures ....................................240 A2.4: Chez (in the house of) Signatures ......................248 Appendix 3: DuBois Serial Numbers ..........................253 Appendix 4: The History of a History Revisited ..................255 vi 1: Prelude 1.1: The History of a History Some early books mention self-winding watches, and these watches have been known for a long time, particularly those made by Breguet. But the examination of their history did not begin until 1949. In that year, Léon Leroy published a description of a very unusual watch that he had just acquired (Leroy, 1949). This unsigned watch, known as the Leroy watch, has a rotor mechanism similar to those used in modern wristwatches. The discovery of this watch prompted Alfred Chapuis and Eugène Jaquet to study these watches, and in 1952 they published the first, comprehensive history of them: La Montre Automatique Ancienne, un Siècle et Demi d’Histoire 1770-1931. Unfortunately Jaquet died in 1951 and did not see the results of their work. After carefully checking all the information available to them, and examining the Leroy watch, they concluded: Pouvons-nous conclure qu’il s’agit d’une montre perpétuelle dont le mouvement est de A.-L. Perrelet et le boîtier de Abraham-Louis Robert, tous deux au Locle? Cela paraît une quasi certitude, ... (Chapuis & Jaquet, 1952, page 55.) That is, based on a 1777 document and other evidence, it is almost certain that Abram Louys Perrelet (to use the old spelling of his name) had made the Leroy watch movement. Further, they suggest that he had made such watches for a long time, certainly before 1777 and perhaps as early as 1770. If so, he is the first inventor of such watches and all other workers in the field followed his lead. After the book had been typeset and sent to the printer, Chapuis saw a copy of the 1789 document Description Abrégée de Plusieurs Pièces d’Horlogerie, written by Hubert Sarton. It includes: Watch with Spontaneous Movement. This watch, which is wound by only the movement that it receives while being carried, was also subjected to the judgment of the Academy of Science of Paris [in 1778] which declared that the author had cured very well the disadvantages and variations caused in other watches of this kind by the winding mechanism; and in praising the construction, it considered it to be it worthy of its
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