Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Glashütte Uhren-Fabrik Union wristwatch, circa 1890
- Maker / attribution
- Glashütte Uhren-Fabrik Union (brand / maker)
- Date
- c. 1890
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Germany
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- diameter 49 mm
- Auction house
- Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
- Lot
- Lot 350-43
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: LOT 43, Geneva,May 9, 2022
- Catalogue title (original)
- UHRENFABRIK-UNION GLASHUTTE CUSTOM MADE CASE (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva (lot Lot 350-43), this is a wristwatch by Glashütte Uhren-Fabrik Union, made in Germany, dated c. 1890. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: diameter 49 mm. 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
Large, manual winding, chromium custom made wristwatch case with Lange Guillaume-type balance movement.
Lot specifications (Antiquorum)
Movement No.: 53317; Material: Chromium-plated; Caliber: 19’’’, Glashütte 3/4-plate, frosted gilt, 16 jewels, straight-line Glashütte escapement, gold pallet fork, gold escape wheel, Lange`s Guillaume-type balance with timing screws, blued steel Breguet balance spring, swan-neck micrometer regulator; Diameter: 49 mm.; Signature: Movement
Inscriptions & marks
Movement
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Wristlets for women and early military wristlets — small pocket watch movements in cases with wire lugs — appeared towards the end of the century.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
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.
