Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Pocket watch by Bon De, France, 1840-1850 al
- Maker / attribution
- Bon De (maker)
- Date
- 1840-1850 al
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- France?
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- metal, glass
- Dimensions
- diameter 6 cm
- Holding institution
- Keski-Suomen museo
- Accession / object no.
- E3379/0012
- Credit line
- Keski-Suomen museo (via Finna)
- Catalogue title (original)
- De Bon-taskukello; kello; taskukello (Finnish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Keski-Suomen museo (object number E3379/0012), this is a pocket watch by Bon De, made in France?, dated 1840-1850 al. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: metal, glass. Recorded dimensions: diameter 6 cm. 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
Description — Keski-Suomen museo
fyysinen kuvaus: Kello on melko suurikokoinen. Kuoret ovat sileät, harmaata, vähän patinoitunutta metallia. Valkoisessa kellotaulussa on mustat arabialaiset numerot osoittamassa tunteja ja minuutteja sekä ilmeisesti päiviä (1-31). Viisareita on kaksi, ne ovat koristeelliset ja kullanväriset. Kellolasin saa avattua sivulle (sarana on osittain rikkoutunut) ja koneisto-osa aukeaa ylöspäin paljastaen takakuoren sisäpinnan ja sitä vasten olevan koneisto-osan, joka on koristeellinen ja kaiverrettu. Kello on avaimella vedettävä. Vetokohta kellotaulussa. Kellossa on ollut vitjat. Lasi naarmuinen.
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Inscriptions & marks
Kellotaulussa on lukenut viisareiden yläpuolella De Bon, mutta osa tekstistä on kadonnut kellotaulun pinnan lohjettua viereisen vetoreiän ympäriltä. Viisareiden alapuolla lukee A PARIS. Takakuoren sisäpinnassa leimoja: 1313; 1500; keskellä tähtimäinen kuvio; kuvio, joka muistuttaa kirjaimia IHL, jossa H ja L olisivat rungoistaan liittyneet yhteen. Lisäksi todella hennosti käsin raaputettu numerosarja 2162. Koneisto-osan takakannessa kaiverrus "De Bon" ja "A PARIS" ja sen etukannen reunassa näkyy numerot 500 (osa sarjasta jäänyt kiinnikkeen alle).
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
From 1750 to 1850 the watch became a precision instrument. Mudge's lever escapement, the cylinder escapement, Lépine's thin bar calibre, Breguet's innovations (overcoil, tourbillon, perpétuelle) and the pocket chronometer of Arnold and Earnshaw all date from this period, while verge watches remained common in cheaper production.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Early Modern Horology
Atlas type guide
Pocket watches
The pocket watch was the dominant personal timekeeper from the late seventeenth century until the First World War. Its development tracks the history of the escapement: verge watches with fusees until the late eighteenth century; Thomas Mudge's lever escapement (c. 1755) and the cylinder escapement popularised by George Graham and later by Swiss makers; and the Swiss and English lever watches of the nineteenth century. Lépine's bar-bridge calibre and keyless winding made watches thinner and easier to use.
Industrialisation transformed the trade: American factories such as Waltham (from 1850) and Elgin produced interchangeable parts by machine, and Swiss makers responded with their own mechanisation after the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition. By 1900 a reliable watch was affordable to millions; the finest makers continued to produce complications and precision watches.
What to look for
- The escapement: verge (crown wheel), cylinder, duplex, English or Swiss lever.
- Key winding (a square arbor in dial or back) or keyless crown winding.
- Signatures and serial numbers on the movement, dial and inside case back.
- Hallmarks, case maker's marks and gold or silver standards stamped in the case.
- Dial material: enamel, silver, gold, later printed metal.
Dating clues
- Verge watches dominate before c. 1800; cylinder watches c. 1770–1900; lever watches after c. 1820.
- Keyless winding: increasingly common after c. 1860.
- Manufacturer serial number lists exist for Waltham, Elgin, Longines, Omega, Patek Philippe and others.
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:Verge escapementDetached lever escapementFuseeIdentification Centre
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