Blancpain clock, circa 2010 — view 1 of 1
View 1 of 1 · Image: Antiquorum Genève SA · original image source

Clocks · Clock

Blancpain clock, circa 2010

DocumentedDocumented from an auction catalogue; attribution as stated by the auction house.
Maker / attribution
Blancpain (brand / maker)
Date
circa 2010
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Clock
Dimensions
41 cm.
Lot
Lot 390-73
Credit line
Auction lot record: LOT 73
Catalogue title (original)
BLANCPAIN, SWITZERLAND, WALL CLOCK

View the source record (auction lot) ↗

Record summary

Catalogued by Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva (lot Lot 390-73), this is a clock by Blancpain, made in Switzerland, dated circa 2010. The Atlas places it in the Contemporary Horology period (2010 – Present) of its Clocks collection. Recorded dimensions: 41 cm. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Antiquorum catalogue description

A fine, large, quartz wall clock in the shape of a Blancpain wristwatch.

Lot specifications (Antiquorum)

Caliber: Quartz; Signature: Dial

Historical context

Contemporary Horology (2010 – Present)

Silicon components, connected watches, optical-lattice research clocks and a thriving independent scene.

Today time is distributed by satellite navigation and networks with nanosecond accuracy, while mechanical clocks are made as art, design and craft objects. Contemporary designers explore the clock as sculpture and kinetic art.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Mechanical Renaissance

Atlas type guide

Regulators, wall and Vienna clocks

A regulator is a precision pendulum clock used as a time standard in observatories, workshops and railway offices. Typical features are a deadbeat or Graham escapement, a temperature-compensated pendulum (mercury jar, gridiron or later invar), maintaining power and a regulator dial that separates hours, minutes and seconds. George Graham's deadbeat escapement (c. 1715) and his mercury pendulum, together with Harrison's gridiron, set the pattern for two centuries.

Wall clocks span a much wider range: the elegant Viennese Laterndluhr and Dachluhr of the Biedermeier period, the Dutch stoelklok and staartklok, English 'dial' clocks used in schools, offices and railway stations, and mass-produced spring and weight wall clocks from Germany (Gustav Becker, Junghans, Kienzle) and America.

What to look for

  • Deadbeat escapement and compensated pendulum (gridiron rods, mercury jar or wood rod).
  • A regulator dial with a large central minute hand and separate hour and seconds dials.
  • Vienna regulators: glazed cases, slender pendulum, small weights, enamel two-piece dials.
  • German factory trademarks stamped on the backplate (e.g. Gustav Becker anchor and crown, Junghans star).

Dating clues

  • Graham-type deadbeat regulators: from c. 1720.
  • Viennese Laterndluhr: c. 1800–1850.
  • German factory 'Vienna-style' regulators: c. 1870–1930; Gustav Becker serial numbers allow close dating.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

Read next:Anchor (recoil) escapementGrasshopper escapement

Related records