Theodor Knoblich, Altona, Movement No. 1816, 150 x 080 x 150 mm, circa 1880
A fine expedition chronometer with 56h power reserve and spring detent escapement Case: mahogany. Dial: silvered. Movm.: brass movement, bimetallic chronometer balance with 2 weights and 4 screws.
The screws on its case show that this chronometer was originally intended to be a marine chronometer; however, it was eventually fitted into a slender non-gimbal case. The case is lockable and has a hole in the base that allows winding the clock without removing it from its box. A view from the top shows us a lovely dial (as to be expected from Knoblich) with the warning "Zieh auf" (wind) on the power reserve indicator.
Theodor Knoblich was born on November 28, 1827 in Friedland in Silesia. Even when he was still a child, he began supporting his parents by making pins and repairing musical instruments. Later Knoblich worked with Moritz Krille in Altona; he went on to become head-workman with Schneider in Hamburg and eventually took over Krille’s business in 1863. The company now traded as "Theodor Knoblich, Krilles Nachfolger". Knoblich produced many timekeepers with stop watch function and marine chronometers and delivered chronographs and electric clocks to national and international observatories. He kept in close contact with the observatory in Kiel (which had been moved there from Altona) and used this connection to improve his knowledge of scientific instruments. He built an electric escapement similar to that by Tiede for the Repsold Equatorial and from 1871 on he produced pendulum clocks with and without barometric compensation for observatories like Hamburg and Strasbourg. In 1877 Knoblich moved his business to Hamburg and worked with Ferdinand Dencker on the production of chronometers – this cooperation only lasted a short while, however. Knoblich received awards in Stettin in 1865, in Altona in 1869 and in Vienna in 1873. He produced fine clocks, pendulum clocks and chronometers, for which he usually created the balances and escapements himself; he only had the mainsprings for his chronometers delivered from England. In 1891 Knoblich sold his company due to health reasons and retired. He died on July 1, 1892. Source: https://watch-wiki.org/index.php?title=Knoblich,_Theodor, as of 02/09/2016
Estimate 5,500 - 8,500 €
Price Realised 7,500 €
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