Clocks, Watches & Scientific Instruments online 3595T | April 20–29, 2021 | www.skinnerinc.com
Clocks, Watches & Scientific Instruments online This auction features exciting fresh-to-the-market vintage and contemporary wristwatches—some with great provenance including a Luminor 1950 Rattrapante won at the 2009 Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge, in the Newport, Rhode Island, leg of the regatta, and a local single-owner 1968 Heuer Autavia 2446 GMT. Pocket watches include late 19th and early 20th century “complicated” movements and a number of fine American and European time-only examples. American clocks range from early patent timepieces or “banjo” clocks to tall clocks by revered makers such as Willard, Cummens, and Abiel Chandler, as well as “hall clocks” by Walter H. Durfee. Highlighting the sale’s scientific portion is a live steam model of a Boston and Albany 4-6-6 “402” locomotive, circa 1945, with extensive documentation. Also on offer is a small collection of French luxury pens and lighters by S.T. Dupont and Cartier, and the private collection and remaining inventory from the Camera Craftsman store and workshop of Boston, Massachusetts.
3595T | April 20–29, 2021 | www.skinnerinc.com please contact the department for condition reports & preview information, visit our website to register & bid
Jonathan Dowling clocks@skinnerinc.com | watches@skinnerinc.com 508.970.3131 Edward Prior Pair-cased Watch for the Turkish Market Waltham Gold-filled Huntercase Watch MA LIC. 2304
Pocket Watches Zenith 18kt Gold Demihunter Repeater Watch
18kt Gold and Enameled Demi-hunter Pendant Watch Thomas Russell & Son 18kt Gold Split Second Watch Invar 14kt Gold Grand Sonnerie Minuterepeating Hunter-case Watch or Clockwatch and Chain Audemars Piguet & Co. 18kt Gold Chronograph Open-face Watch
Limited Edition Panerai Luminor 1950 Regatta Rattrapante Wristwatch and Travel Clock
Single-owner Heuer Autavia GMT Mark I Reference 2446 Wristwatch
Rolex GMT Master Reference 1675 Wristwatch and Accessories
If you speak of the best of the tool watches of the 1960s you certainly need to include the iconic Rolex GMT Master 1675 that was introduced in the late 1950s (seen opposite lower right). The first GMT master was introduced upon the request of the Pan Am pilots who were in need of an instrument to keep track of two time zones. Heuer, or as they are known today, Tag Heuer, introduced the Autavia (seen opposite top right & on the cover) into their lineup in 1962 under their then new CEO, Jack Heuer. The name Autavia comes from a combination of two words Automotive and Aviation. Heuer’s market even today is largely steeped in the automotive and aviation worlds. And one of the most undervalued triple-calendar chronographs on the market from this period is the Wakmann (seen this page, top left). It houses the reliable variant of the famous Valjoux 72C, the Valjoux 723.
this page & on the cover: Selection of Vintage and Contemporary Wristwatches, including examples by Wakmann, Vacheron Constantin, Franck Muller, Illinois Watch Co., Enicar, Cartier, RJ Watches, Omega, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, LeCoultre, Rolex, Universal Geneve, and Gubelin
Wristwatches
Three to Watch | 1960s Vintage
American Clocks
Alexander Cook Walnut Tall Clock, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, no. 17, c. 1795-1800, with detail New England Inlaid Cherry Tall Clock, signed “J. Dakin/Portland”
Aaron Willard Jr. Patent Alarm Timepiece or “Banjo” Clock, movement detail
Massachusetts Striking Patent Timepiece or “Banjo” Clock, movement detail
Aaron Willard Jr. Wood-front Patent Timepiece or “Banjo” Clock, No. 2127
New England Gilt-front Patent Timepiece or “Banjo” Clock, attributed to William Cummens
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Durfee Clocks Walter H. Durfee started his antique business at 295 High Street in Providence, Rhode Island, in the early part of the 1880s, focusing mainly on English hall clocks. His clock production began with the help of the Jennens & Sons movement manufacturer of London, who produced movements for Durfee to place in his finest-made mahogany, walnut, or oak cases, beginning in the middle part of the 1880s. Durfee soon found the three-train tubular bell hall clocks being produced by the Coventry, England, manufacturer John Harrington, and started bringing them to the US sometime around 1887. Durfee partnered with some of the most prestigious jewelers in the US to sell his five- and nine-tubular bell mahogany hall clocks—including Tiffany & Co., Bailey Banks & Biddle, and James E. Caldwell—for prices that averaged $600. For comparison, an E. Howard No. 5 clock was selling for around $20. Around 1917 he saw the clock business start to change, in part due to the US entering WWI, and by 1921 he had closed the clock assembly business.
Walter H. Durfee & Co. Mahogany Nine Tubular Bell Hall Clock, retailed by Tiffany & Co.
Walter H. Durfee Art Nouveau Marquetry Pattern 34 Inlaid Tall Clock
Waltham Mahogany and Giltfront Lyre “Banjo” Clock, Special Order E. Howard & Co. Walnut Wall Regulator Special Order E. Howard & Co. Walnut Wall Regulator E. Howard & Co. No. 6 Figure-eight Cherry Wall Regulator
European Clocks Japanned Quarter-striking Musical Longcase Clock by Joseph Eayre, St. Neots, England, c. 1765, with a three-train, seven-pillar movement, hour and quarterhour strike on two bells, a nest of fourteen bells and twenty-eight hammers mounted above the 13 1/4-in. pinned cylinder, playing ten tunes, with details
Diminutive Sicot DuJardin Console Clock and Bracket Robert Ward Musical Bracket Clock Large A. Guilmet Patinated and Gilt Brass Figural Mystery Clock English Tavern or “Act of Parliament” Clock
Scientific Instruments this page:
opposite:
Live Steam Model Boston and Albany 4-6-6 “402” Locomotive, see plan detail on back cover
Thatcher Calculator Instrument, with detail
Post Office Pattern Resistance Box and Bridge
National Mazda Lamps Two-sided Tin Store Display Glazed Chalkware Phrenology Head
Mazda: The Light of Wisdom Mazdaism, or Zoroastrianism, the religion in which Ahura Mazda is the supreme divinity, means “light of wisdom” in the Avestan language. In 1909 General Electric trademarked the name “Mazda” for their incandescent or tungsten filament light bulbs. Along with the trademark name, GE also licensed the socket sizes and tungsten filament technology, in order to standardize the lighting industry—they shared this with other manufacturers, including the British Thomson-Houston Company and the Toshiba Company of Japan. The bulbs’ advantage was that they used less electricity than carbon filament bulbs, but they cost substantially more to produce. Efficiency prevailed, and the bulbs were very successful. The patent ran out in the 1930s, and stopped the campaign in the mid 1940s. Early General Electric Company tin trade signs were usually used in retail stores, and are rare to the market today.
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The Collection of Jim Handsman: “The Camera Craftsman”
James (Jim) B. Handsman started out at 715 Boylston St., his workshop known as the “Handsman Craftsman,” located above the Dunkin Donuts and across from Lord & Taylor. He attended a local camera repair training school in Boston, and it was there that he was taught the fine art of detailed restoration, and quickly honed his love of engineering mechanics, bringing quality instruments back to their intended usage. He later renovated a studio/store on 362 Commonwealth Ave. known as “THE CAMERA CRAFTSMAN.” He was hired by celebrities both near and far, and even the US Agricultural department, to repair their cameras. Jim was always busy long into the night, repairing vintage cameras for local colleges and photographers who enjoyed the craft as much as he did. He was quite a skilled photographer as well. His answering machine tag line was “Thank you friends and customers from around the world.” Jim was a well known figure in and around Boston’s cultural scene—he loved his career, his craft, and his neighborhood, and his dear sweet loving companion cats, Bernsteen and Arielle. Enjoy exploring this vast collection— a true lifetime labor of love. Jim was a man of great skill and a truly remarkable gentleman, who always enjoyed a good joke—his smile and beautiful mind is certainly something to remember. —Beth Handsman
274 Cedar Hill Street | Marlborough, MA 01752
PRESORTED FIRST CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE
PAID PERMIT 8 NORTH READING, MA