Deck watch no. 6015 by Victor Kullberg

Catalogue description — Royal Museums Greenwich

Three tier, mahogany deck box, now with internal fittings missing. The silver open-face case is hallmarked for London 1905-06 and is stamped with the sponsor’s mark ‘F.T’ (Frederick Thoms). The watch has a gilt winding crown and brass push-piece for hand setting at one o’clock. The white enamel dial has black roman numerals and is signed below XII: ‘VICTOR KULLBERG / LONDON / 6015’ .There is also a ‘↑’within the subsidiary seconds dial, which has Arabic ten-second numerals. It has polished blued steel spade and poker hands with a fine pointer blued steel second hand with a counter poised tail. The watch has a fine, gilt-brass going barrel, full plate movement with four turned pillars, all fixed with polished and blued steel screws. The top of the potence plate is engraved: ‘Victor Kullberg. 105 Liverpool Rd. London’ and the barrel bridge is engraved with ‘↑’, ‘No.6015’ and two crowned emblems denoting maker to the British Admiralty and the King of Sweden. It has a ratchet tooth lever escapement with compensation balance and blued steel spiral balance spring, with overcoil, under a gilt brass bridge. Jewelled to the third wheel. The watch was first supplied to Kullberg’s as a rough movement from the Lancashire Watch Co. in March 1894. Finishing then began in September 1905 and it was virtually completed in May 1906. It then lay in stock until it was ordered by the Admiralty in February 1909. It cost £18 10s and was delivered in March 1909. It was on active service until 1945 after which it remained in the MoD chronometer workshops until loan to the NMM in 1972. Victor Kullberg (1824-90) was born in Visby on the Island of Gotland, Sweden. He was trained by the Swedish chronometer maker Victor Soderburg in Stockholm in 1840 and emigrated to London in 1851, having moved to his permanent address at 105 Liverpool Road, N1, by 1870. During his lifetime Kullberg gained many medals and awards for his chronometers and enjoyed a truly international reputation. As well as supplying many foreign governments, he regularly submitted chronometers for the Annual Trials at Greenwich Observatory, gaining first place in 1864 with a chronometer fitted with his newly invented ‘flat rim’ balance. His inventions included several designs of compensation balance and improvements to keyless winding for pocket watches. He also designed the automatic gas-governor for controlling the temperature of the chronometer testing ovens at the Observatory. More than 500 chronometers by Kullberg were supplied to the Royal Navy alone and he can be said to have been one of the 19th century’s finest chronometer makers. On Kullberg’s death in 1890 the firm was taken over by George and Peter Wennerstrom, themselves succeeded by Sanfrid Lundquist who had joined the firm in 1894 and who moved the firm to Cranford in Middlesex in 1938, trading under the name of Victor Kullberg until his death in 1947).