
Clocks · Clock
Jaeger Lecoultre clock, ref. 5052, circa 1970
- Maker / attribution
- Jaeger Lecoultre (brand / maker)
- Date
- circa 1970
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Clock
- Auction house
- Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
- Lot
- Lot 389-148
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: LOT 148
- Catalogue title (original)
- JAEGER LECOULTRE, REF. 5052, ELECTRO-MECHANICAL DESK-CLOCK, CENTRE-SECONDS; RHODIUM-PLATED BRASS, RHODIUM-PLATED BRASS
Record summary
Catalogued by Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva (lot Lot 389-148), this is a clock by Jaeger Lecoultre, made in Switzerland, dated circa 1970. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Clocks collection. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
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
EUR 700 - 1,700 / CHF 650 - 1,600 / USD 800 - 1,950 / JPY 120,000 - 296,000 A fine and unusal, rhodium-plated brass, electro-mechanical, horizontal rectangular-shaped, desk-clock with centre-seconds.
Lot specifications (Antiquorum)
Case No.: 42; Signature: 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
Domestic clocks
A clock combines four systems: a source of power (falling weight, coiled spring, or later electricity), a gear train that divides time, an escapement and oscillator that regulate it (foliot, pendulum or balance), and an indicating system of dial and hands or a bell. Its history runs from the large iron weight-driven clocks of the late thirteenth century to Renaissance spring-driven table clocks, the pendulum revolution of 1656, the factory clocks of the nineteenth century and electric and quartz clocks of the twentieth.
Domestic clocks also reflect regional furniture and decorative traditions — English longcase and bracket clocks, French pendules, Viennese regulators, Black Forest and American shelf clocks — and therefore record changing tastes as much as technical progress.
What to look for
- How the clock is powered: weights, spring barrel, fusee, electric coil.
- The oscillator: foliot, short pendulum, long seconds pendulum or balance.
- Whether it strikes: hour only (count wheel) or hours and quarters (rack striking).
- The maker or retailer's name on dial and movement, and any factory trademarks.
- Signs of alteration — replaced dials, converted escapements, 'married' cases.
Dating clues
- Before 1656 clocks used foliots or balances; after, most domestic clocks have pendulums.
- Anchor escapements spread after c. 1670; minute hands became common at the same time.
- Factory production in America and Germany transformed prices after c. 1840.
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.
Related records
Clocks · circa 1960's
Jaeger Lecoultre Ados Calendrier, circa 1960's
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Clocks · circa 1970
Jaeger Lecoultre Table Clock, circa 1970
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Clocks · Sold in 1970
Jaeger Lecoultre Travel Desk Clock, Sold in 1970
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · 1936
Jaeger Lecoultre wristwatch, 1936
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Clocks · 1965-1975
Quartz master clock QM 1, with movement by Patek Phillippe, Switzerland, 1965-1975. Supplied by English Clock Systems.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · 1970
Clock by Heno, Switzerland, 1970
Museum Rotterdam
Clocks · 1973
Clock and drum, Mk 2A, c.1973, 7 day, Swiss made.
Science Museum Group, London
Clocks · circa 1980's
Cartier "art Deco", circa 1980's
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva