
Movements & Components · Wristwatch movement
Wristwatch movement by C.L. Malmsjö & Co, Göteborg, 1880–1891
- Maker / attribution
- C.L. Malmsjö & Co, Göteborg (Maker)
- Date
- 1880–1891
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Wristwatch movement
- Materials / technique
- Metall
- Dimensions
- Diameter 44.2 mm Vikt 0.1 kg
- Holding institution
- Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology
- Accession / object no.
- TEKS0048466
- Credit line
- Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology
- Catalogue title (original)
- Urverk (Swedish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology (object number TEKS0048466), this is a wristwatch movement by C.L. Malmsjö & Co, Göteborg, dated 1880–1891. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Movements & Components collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Metall. Recorded dimensions: Diameter 44.2 mm Vikt 0.1 kg. The record is illustrated with 2 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
Catalogue description from Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology
Urverk, nästan komplett, sekundvisare saknas Märkt C.L.Malmsjö Götheborg. Carl Frithiof Mattsson samlade på gamla ur och udda klockor under sin verksamma tid från 1915 till sin död 1949 Carl Ludvig Malmsjö var urmakare mellan 1841-1891, han hade den största urfabriken i Göteborg
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Standardised calibres, interchangeable parts and machine tools allowed movements to be mass-produced in American and Swiss factories.
Read the period in the timelineMore movements & components from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Clock and watch movements
The movement is the mechanism of a clock or watch, without its case and dial. It consists of the power source (weight or mainspring in its barrel, sometimes with a fusee), the going train of wheels and pinions, the escapement and oscillator, the motion work that drives the hands, and in many cases additional trains for striking or complications.
From the eighteenth century watch movements were increasingly produced in stages: Swiss and French ébauche makers supplied rough movements that finishers, repasseurs and retailers completed and signed. Calibre numbers — first used systematically by American and Swiss factories in the nineteenth century — make it possible to identify movements, find spare parts and date watches.
What to look for
- Plate and bridge layout: full plate, three-quarter plate, Lépine bar calibre, bridges and cocks.
- Jewel count and whether jewels are set in chatons or rubbed in.
- Signatures, calibre and serial numbers on the plate or under the dial.
- Finishing: Geneva stripes (Côtes de Genève), perlage, bevelled edges, blued screws.
- Fusee and chain, going barrel, or electrical components.
Dating clues
- Full-plate English movements dominate before c. 1850; three-quarter plate and Lépine calibres after.
- Jewelled movements spread after Facio and Debaufre's patent of 1704, mainly in English work until c. 1800.
- Calibre numbers and factory serials allow close dating for industrial production after c. 1850.
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.
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