Clocks · Clock
Imhof clock, In Homage To Ferdinand Berthoud A Replica of A Unique Timepi, 1982
- Maker / attribution
- Imhof (brand / maker)
- Date
- 1982
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Clock
- Materials / technique
- stainless steel
- Dimensions
- length 110 mm; height 160 mm; width 110 mm
- Auction house
- Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
- Lot
- Lot 376-48
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: LOT 48, Geneva April 3rd, 2025
- Catalogue title (original)
- IMHOF, SWITZERLAND, IN HOMAGE TO FERDINAND BERTHOUD, A REPLICA OF A UNIQUE TIMEPIECE: A SHIP’S CHRONOMETER BUILT IN 1796 BY SWISS MASTER WATCHMAKER FERDINAND BERTHOUD, BRASS AND STEEL (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva (lot Lot 376-48), this is a clock by Imhof, dated 1982. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: stainless steel. Recorded dimensions: length 110 mm; height 160 mm; width 110 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
A fine, stainless steel and brass, quartz ,desk-clock in the shape of a ship's chronometer, dial with off-centred hour and minute hands and centre seconds hand. Case in polished steel and brass, faithful reproduction of the original gimbal suspension, with counterweight.
Lot specifications (Antiquorum)
Model: In Homage To Ferdinand Berthoud; Movement No.: 904Q0165; Case No.: 7616; Caliber: Imhof 4-MHz quartz movement having earned an official Chronometer Certificate.; Length: 110; Height: 160; Width: 110; Signature: Dial, case and movement; Accessories: Original box
Inscriptions & marks
Dial, case and movement
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz movements and digital displays made accurate clocks cheap and ubiquitous after the early 1970s. LED and LCD clocks, clock radios and radio-controlled clocks appeared, while traditional mechanical clockmaking contracted sharply in Germany, France and Britain.
Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Marine chronometers
A marine chronometer is a precision timekeeper carried at sea to find longitude: the navigator compares local noon, observed with a sextant, with the time at a reference meridian kept by the chronometer. Each hour of difference corresponds to fifteen degrees of longitude. John Harrison proved the method in the 1760s; Pierre Le Roy, Ferdinand Berthoud, John Arnold and Thomas Earnshaw then developed the detent escapement and the compensation balance that made chronometers practical to manufacture.
By the nineteenth century London, Liverpool, Le Locle and Glashütte supplied navies and merchant fleets. A typical box chronometer has a spring-detent escapement, a fusee to equalise mainspring torque, a bimetallic compensation balance with a helical balance spring, and is mounted in gimbals inside a wooden box so that it stays level.
What to look for
- Gimbals and a three-tier wooden box with a glazed inner lid.
- A power-reserve ('up and down') indicator on the dial, usually showing 56 hours on two-day instruments.
- Spring-detent escapement and a cylindrical (helical) balance spring visible through the movement.
- Admiralty or navy marks (broad arrow), and rating certificates from observatories.
- The maker's number on the dial and movement; many makers' registers survive, allowing dating.
Dating clues
- Earnshaw-type spring-detent chronometers became standard after about 1800.
- Auxiliary compensation devices on the balance appear from the mid-nineteenth century.
- Quartz and radio time signals ended routine use of mechanical chronometers in the 1970s and 1980s.
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:Spring detent (chronometer) escapementFuseeBalance spring (hairspring)Detent escapement
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