Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Longines pocket watch, ref. 4507, circa 1950
- Maker / attribution
- Longines (brand / maker)
- Date
- circa 1950
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- stainless steel
- Dimensions
- 66 mm.
- Auction house
- Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
- Lot
- Lot 390-152
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: LOT 152
- Catalogue title (original)
- LONGINES, SWITZERLAND, REF. 4507, SPLIT-SECONDS CHRONOGRAPH, STAINLESS STEEL
Record summary
Catalogued by Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva (lot Lot 390-152), this is a pocket watch by Longines, made in Switzerland, dated circa 1950. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: stainless steel. Recorded dimensions: 66 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, large, stainless steel, manual wind open face keyless pocket watch with split-seconds chronograph pocket watch with instantaneous 30-minute recorder and stop function. Silvered dial with bold Breguet numerals, outer Arabic minute and chronograph scales, and recessed subsidiary seconds and minute registers. Blued steel feuille hands.
Lot specifications (Antiquorum)
Caliber: 51 mm., rhodium-plated, 21 jewels, straight line lever escapement, monometallic balance with screws, self-compensating Breguet balnce spring with swan neck micrometric regulator. Split-seconds chronograph with visible work, button on the winding crown and push piece in the band.; Case No.: 9159359; Movement No.: 9896593; Signature: Dial, case and movement; Accessories: Original fitted holder with outer functional buttons.
Historical context
Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.
After 1945 the pocket watch became a niche product — presentation and railway watches, inexpensive pin-lever watches, and commemorative pieces — while most innovation moved to the wrist.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking
Atlas type guide
Chronographs and split-seconds watches
A chronograph is a watch with an additional seconds hand that can be started, stopped and returned to zero independently of the timekeeping. Louis Moinet built an early example in 1816 and Nicolas Rieussec a recording 'chronographe' in 1821; Adolphe Nicole's heart-shaped reset cam (patented 1862) made the modern return-to-zero possible. Split-seconds (rattrapante) chronographs add a second hand that can be stopped for intermediate times; flyback chronographs restart instantly.
Chronographs were essential tools for doctors (pulsometer scales), artillery (telemeter), engineers and sport. In wristwatches, Valjoux, Venus, Lemania and later the automatic chronographs of 1969 (Zenith El Primero, the Chronomatic Calibre 11 group and Seiko 6139) are milestones.
What to look for
- Push-pieces on the case band or a single button in the crown (monopusher).
- Subsidiary registers for minutes and hours; tachymeter, telemeter or pulsometer scales.
- Column wheel versus cam control visible in the movement.
- Calibre markings of specialist makers (Valjoux, Lemania, Venus, Landeron).
Dating clues
- Pocket chronographs with heart cam reset: after 1862.
- Wrist chronographs: from c. 1910; two-button designs from the 1930s.
- Automatic chronographs: from 1969.
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:Flyback chronographChronograph
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