adolphe lange precision regulator w/ grossmann pendulum

[bruce linde]

this german precision regulator has been discussed here before, when it belonged to my clock mentor. since those posts the makers and (probable) provenance have been uncovered.

for some inexplicable reason, he offered to sell it to me now instead of having me wait to purchase it from his family when he goes (hopefully many years from now). it was the flagship of his collection. even though i knew nothing about clocks (other than i liked them) when i met him in 2010, i knew it was special and looked forward to seeing it every time i visited. over time i learned more and my appreciation grew. he had it hanging just outside his workshop.

here are the photos from when it was at his house... i'll post new ones in subsequent posts



i will add info in sections… including about the makers (adolph lange and moritz grossmann), the (known) history of the clock from (at least) 1910, other relevant (and fascinating) historical info, and some high-probability connect-the-dots provenance speculation.










p.s.: the clock was one second off over the last 60 days.... might be worth pausing for a moment to quote one of my favorite bob dylan songs:

They say I shot a man named Gray
And took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks
And when she died it came to me
I can't help it if I'm lucky

 

[bruce linde]

more about lange and grossmann....

info on these guys has been culled from multiple sources, starting with ermert's fantastic (even if in german) 454-page präzisionspendeluhren in deutschland von 1730 bis 1940 volume 3...

ferdinand adolph lange

adolph lange was born in dresden, saxony in 1815, only 30km away from the future watchmaking hub of glashütte. as a young man he was enrolled at the technical education institute in dresden, founded in 1829. there, he met royal watchmaker johann christian friedrich gutkaes and became his apprentice at 15. under gutkaes' tutelage, lange learned the art of watchmaking as well as the fundamentals of the industry he found himself in... a far cry from his father's gunsmithing trade. adolph then travled to france to study under josef thaddäus winnerl, the former apprentice of abraham-louis breguet (!). during that time he attended lectures by arago, learning physics and improving his theoretical knowledge. adolph realized that a problem with french design was that it relied heavily upon trial and error, which had a subsequent effect on the quality of the timepiece and in some cases the profitability of the enterprise.

upon his return to his native dresden in 1842, he became a partner in his former mentor's workshop and married gutkaes' daughter. in 1845, he received a loan (after talks of about two years) from the government of saxony and established 'a. lange'. thanks to lange's ambition, glashütte became the epicentre of german watchmaking. lange reinvigorated life in the area, created an industry and jobs, and developed what was once a poverty-stricken mining town into a thriving hub of horology; he also served as mayor of glashütte for eighteen years.

lange was an innovator and used his years in various countries and learnings from different master watchmakers around europe to stay ahead of the competition. in particular he was noted for combining strong points of both english and swiss watchmaking and made a swiss cylinder watch with english lever escapement (the escapement invented by thomas mudge in 1755). in 1864, lange started using a three-quarter plate in his timepieces – improving the stability of the movements. in 1867 he produced a pocket watch with a jumping-seconds mechanism that was later patented by his sons.



moritz grossmann

grossman was a member of lange's inner circle and a founder of the german school of watchmaking (in 1878). he was born in dresden in 1826. his father was a mail sorter at the royal court post office there. while moritz grew up under modest circumstances his teachers quickly recognised his eagerness to learn and realised he had an extraordinary aptitude.

just like ferdinand adolph lange before, he spent two years studying at dresden's technische bildungsanstalt, the precursor of what is now the technical university, completing his training much faster than the norm, he apparently also studied english, french, and italian in his spare time (!). during this period, he became friends with lange, who was 11 years his senior.

grossmann crafted precision tools, escapement models, fine pocket watches, and precision pendulum clocks (his pendulums are immediately recognizable) as well as lever chronometers and marine chronometers. he developed the glashütte lathe for watchmakers and later concentrated on lever escapements and the optimisation of pivoted detents for chronometers. the varied projects to which grossmann was committed could not have been pursued without highly qualified staff members and he succeeded in enlisting a team of specialists that included school director georg heinrich lindemann, who was succeeded by ludwig strasser in 1885.in 1866, grossmann submitted an essay in london with the title "on the detached lever escapement" and became the first german contestant to win a competition tendered by the british horological institute.

also in 1866, grossmann succeeded ferdinand adolph lange as the mayor of glashütte, serving for 12 years. while he was mayor, glashütte was honoured by a visit from the king of saxony, an earnest patron of the industrial arts. as a result of their meeting the government of saxony granted 2,200 marks towards the expenses of watchmaking school , 2,000 marks for the purchase of tools and machinery, and a loan for the construction of a suitable building. the programme of the school was comprehensive, to say the least: the theoretical and scientific section included algebra, geometry, trigonometry, applied physics and mechanics, drawing, bookkeeping, and french and english' languages. every subject was dealt with in its special relation to horology. among the practical work taught was "the completion of tools, construction of models of balances, of apparatus for demonstrating the various actions in watch and clock work, of astronomical clocks, marine chronometers; also regulating, repairing, etc."

 

[bruce linde]

can't tell the players without a program...

after considerable research i can offer some interesting history about the clock and it's (probable) owners over time.

j. c. pascoe - we know pascoe owned the clock at some point because of 'the note'. according to a miniscule note found in the winding barrel (that survived at least one pass we know of through an ultrasonic), the clock was loaned by pascoe to the playground cafe in golden gate park (and serviced 3/29/1930, as written on the back of the note). pascoe was a watchmaker in san franciso in 1906. interestingly enough, there were 32 watchmakers listed as such in san francisco in 1906.

louis weule co. - the clock was picked up by representatives of the louis weule co. in 1910 and became their shop regulator. the company was founded in 1862 by charles pace of london and taken over by louis weule in 1892, they were known to shipping lines and shipping people the world over for their nautical instruments and supplies, including compasses, binnacles, ship's clocks and logs, binoculars, barometers, chart-room equipment, and repairs of high-grade clocks. the company was liquidated in 1950, at which time the clock was sold to fred b. marr, of san francisco. when marr sent a thank you note to the surviving weules, ernest replied that all they knew was that it was "a lange... and a duplicate (!) of the one owned by prof. george davidson and used in his observatory on ocatavia street hill in san francisco" (more on that below). in the upper right of the louis weule company letterhead you can see the name 'harold l. weule' (ernest's brother). harold's wife, irma mae weule was believed to be the oldest living survivor of the 1906 earthquake at the time of her death in 2008. NOTE: the 1879-1920 records of the louis weule co. are apparently stored at the san francisco maritime national historical park in san francisco and i have requested access... we'll see if they get back to me. it would be great to find records of the purchase and/or sale of the clock, shop photos, information on the pricing code 'LFK.AL', etc.



george davidson

davidson enters the picture based on a mention in the letter sent by ernest weule to the collector who purchased the clock from louis weule company in 1950 (more on this to come).



davidson turns out to have been a major historical figure. originally from nottingham, england, davidson was from 1846 to 1850 occupied in geodetic field work and astronomy, serving in the different states on the east coast of the united states. in 1850, he went to california under the auspices of the coast survey, and was for several years engaged in the determination of the latitude and longitude of prominent capes, bays, etc., and of the magnetic elements of the pacific coast, reporting also upon the proper locations for lighthouses. his work included a survey of washington and puget sounds, and he had charge of the main triangulation of the coast in the region of san francisco. in january 1867 he was engineer of a party sent to the isthmus of panama to search for the best location for a ship canal and then appointed to make a special examination and report upon the geography and resources of alaska, pending its purchase; his published report and conferences with congressional committees influenced the passage of the bill.

davidson built the west coast's first astronomical observatory, in san francisco's lafayette park in 1879, and is credited for making california home to some of the finest observatories in existence today. it was through this telescope that his friend, james lick, got his first close-up look at the sky, which would fascinate him for the rest of his life. a piano maker from pennsylvania, lick amassed a $4,000,000 fortune in real estate and would leave $700,000 for the founding of the world's largest observatory of its time on the bay area's highest peak, mt. hamilton. after the 1906 earthquake davidson turned his observatory site into a refuge for people that had lost their homes. in 1910 the sierra club asked that san francisco's highest hill be named "mount davidson".

davidson was president of the california academy of sciences from 1871 to 1887. other positions held by davidson include president of the california academy of sciences from 1871 to 1887, honorary professor of geodesy and astronomy and regent of the university of california from 1877 to 1885. in 1895, davidson retired from what by then had been renamed the 'united states coast and geodetic survey', after 50 years of service. after his retirement he became the first professor of geography at the university of california, berkeley and chaired that department from 1898 until his retirement in 1905; he remained an emeritus professor until his death.


but, wait... there's more.


the senator and the playground

turns out the playground at golden gate park was also a big deal. built in 1887, it was the first public playground in the united states. and, the main benefactor was the notoriously selfish, obscenely rich and do-nothing politician (hmm... sounds familiar ), senator william sharon. sharon inexplicably left a large bequest to establish the playground, with an out-of-character "you can't take it with you when you go". here is a link to a fascinating article on how all of this came about (my favorite part: "william sharon's record as a u.s. senator "is one of the worst in the history of that legislative body; his record of inaction is unbelievable" wrote russell elliott in "history of nevada." sharon was absent for entire sessions of congress, introduced next to no legislation and almost never voted."):



How a notorious tycoon left SF's children a Golden Gate Park landmark

the playground building was damaged during the 1906 earthquake but restored. after the earthquake and resulting fires, twenty-six official homeless encampments were constructed in the park and nearby for those who had no other options... including at the site of davidson's observatory (more on this to come). the camps in the park were primarily used as interim locations while the ingleside horse stables were renovated to house refugees. over the months following the quake and fires, "earthquake shacks" to house people who had lost their homes popped up all throughout the undeveloped "outside lands" (as the sand dunes of western san francisco were known at that time). 'outside lands' is a popular concert series that happens in today's golden gate park.

 

[bruce linde]

photos while installing... securing to the wall

thought for sure i'd taken a photo of the backboard that gets installed on the wall that the clock case gets bolted to... doh! the backboard is held in place with four large wood screws into a stud. it has a square steel plate with a large bolt sticking out. the movement bracket in the clock case has a matching hole and slips over the bolt; in gets bolted in place with a large hex nut, and two screws secure the bottom in place and prevent swinging...

 

[bruce linde]

more specs and info:

front plate is 4.20mm thick.
back plate is 3.7mm thick.
case supporting plate is 4.91mm thick.

the 7 lb 4 oz weight rides in a hidden channel behind the pendulum.




the pendulum weighs 11 lbs 7 ozs. when i first removed the pendulum i was surprised to find there is zero flex in any direction. it is superbly engineered and executed.

 

[bruce linde]

more movement photos and info...

in no particular order:

- upside down escapement... the verge (with jeweled pallets), suspension spring and in-beat adjuster are one assembly hanging below the EW

- the chapter ring on the dial is 6 1/4"

- the pulley assembly is 2" in diameter

- the movement is held in place in the round case with three set screws at 8, 12 and 4. even so, the fit is perfectly snug... not too tight, but not at all loose... kind of perfect

- the top two dial screws are infinitesimally smaller than the lower two... which won't fit in the top positions.

- the clock runs for 36 days... there is a power indicator that can be seen under the XII and above the motion works in the shots with the dial off

 

[bruce linde]

latches...

the weight channel door has a wood protrusion that sits in a matching slot at the bottom of the piece, just above the bob door. the upper end is held in place with two sliding latches, top left and top right, that go through matching metal keyways on the sides of the case back:



the case front... which you can see in previous photos is removeable... locks in place at the top using a piece of 1/8" half round facing down into a matching slot. the bottom left and right of the case front are guided into place using keys/protrusions on the back of the case front into metal guides on the case back:

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

Another truly wonderful clock.

Thanks for the frequent updates, too.

RM

 

[bruce linde]

history and provenance (and...how many were there, really?)

warning: informed speculation follows.


known milestones include:

- early 1800s... lange and grossmann working together

- 1910... hanging in the playground cafe at golden gate park, san francisco, on loan from watchmaker j.c. pascoe. apparently sold to louis weule co., who picked it up from the cafe in 1910

- 1910 to 1949... shop regulator for louis weule co.

- january, 1950... louis weule co. is liquidating and the clock is sold to an oakland clock collector, fred. b. marr... who was apparently as thrilled as i now am )

- 1983... marr dies, and the clock is sold two years later to an antique shop in berkeley, ca.

- 1985... within two weeks after the clock lands at the antique store it is purchased by al roach, a collector and well-know clock repair guy and member of NAWCC chapter 5... my clock mentor's chapter; apparently roach had relationships with all the local stores and they would call him when they got clocks in. al invited my clock mentor over to see the clock two days after he got it, and my mentor purchased on the spot.

- end of 2022... to me



after purchasing the clock from the louis weule company in 1950, the buyer (fred b. marr) sends ernest weule a thank you letter and asks if the weules can provide any more information about the clock. in his reply of jan 12, 1950, ernest says:

"it is regrettable that i am not able to give you any definite details regarding the clock or where it originated; only know that it is a lange regulator, a duplicate of one that prof. george davidson used in his observatory on octavia street hill in san francisco."




it seems extremely unlikely that there were two of these clocks.

i believe this was in fact davidson's clock, maintained and eventually acquired by j.c. pascoe, who then sold it to the louis weule company.

here's my thinking:

- ernest weule acknowledges he can not offer 'definite' details regarding the clock. while we know the weules had the clock from 1910-1950, louis weule died in 1927; it is far more likely that the oral history of the clock got garbled by the family over the forty years it was in their possession, and the 23 years following louis' passing.

- lange and grossmann were THE guys in germany at the time, building state-of-the-art precision regulators by hand; they were certainly not mass-producing them. even one clock would have been prohibitively expensive, time-consuming to produce, and appreciated only by a geographer/astronomer/scientist of davidson's caliber (or very sophisticated collectors (like us! ). the audience for this quality of clock would have been very small, with the odds of someone placing an order for two extremely low. and, while perfectly fine for davidson's small observatory, larger and more connected observatories needed sidereal clocks with electrical connections (more on this to follow).

- for all of his skills and abilities, davidson would have wanted a professional watchmaker on hand for help setting up and servicing the clock... enter j.c. pascoe. we know that davidson and pascoe crossed paths at some point since pascoe ended up with the clock. it is safe to assume that davidson was the kind of guy who would wear a higher-end pocket watch and have an expert watchmaker on hand (so to speak) to maintain it.

the timing works:

- lange and grossmann are building regulators together in the early 1800s.

- davidson builds his observatory in 1879, and gives it up in the early 1900s when his eyesight starts to go... seems like that's when it is acquired by j.c. pascoe. if it was already on loan to the playground cafe (again, by j.c. pascoe) in 1906, it's a miracle it made it through unscathed, based on the photos of the damage posted above.

- after the quake davidson turns the observatory site into a refuge for people who had lost their homes; he's already given up the observatory (and retired) by then because of his vision issues so it makes sense that pascoe is caring for it... as davidson's watchmaker or the clock's new owner.

- the clock is hanging in the (restored) playground cafe in 1910, courtesy of pascoe, when it is acquired by louis weule.

- letters confirm the sale of the clock in january of 1950, by louis weule company to fred b. marr.


as further evidence that there can be only one, it's interesting that everything that happened after the clock arrived in the u.s. appears to have happened within a <25 mile radius... from davidson, pascoe, the weules and the cafe in san francisco (all within three miles of each other) to marr, my clock mentor and now, me, in oakland (within eight and a half miles of each other):

 

[bruce linde]

last post for now... more evidence that there could be only one of this clock....

someone suggested that james lick might have ordered a second one for for the james lick observatory. after all, he went and funded an observatory after seeing the stars at davidson's; he might have also thought it would be cool of have a lange/grossmann clock, as well (but the, it would have been built some time after this one, yes?)

it's certainly a possibility, but lick made his money in real estate and was not a scientist; his main contribution was money and the details were left to experts. according to james e. keeler, the man hired to run the time service at the lick observatory in 1886, the observatory was the center of time distribution for the surrounding country, sending clock signals that connected with those in the east in coordination with southern pacific (see attached .pdf for a very interesting read).

the observatory had five astronomical clocks and five chronographs. of the five astronomical clocks, one was a sidereal dent of london with gravity escapement, and two were sidereal clocks by hohwu of amsterdam (with deadbeat escapements). the meantime clock was an e. howard with deadbeat escapement and four-jar mercury pendulum. there were other clocks throughout the facility, and all of the clocks were wired together so they could be reset simultaneously with the touch of a button. this clock clearly has never had electronic components.



by the way, keeler is another fascinating guy: co-founder of the astrophysical journal, first to observe the gap in saturn's rings (now known as the keeler gap), discovered two minor planets, and had craters named for him on mars and the moon. (and what did you do this weekend? )

 

[Ralph]

Wow! Fantastic. Congratulations on another great purchase. The documentation you developed is wonderful.

what a way to start the year, or was it end the year.

HNY,

Cheers, , Ralph

 

[brian fisher]

Wow! Bruce! I love the research!

 

[bruce linde]

glam shot...

 

[Schatznut]

Bruce, you've done it again - what a beautiful timepiece!

 

[bruce linde]

just noticed the markings on the regulating knob....

 

[P.Hageman]

What a clock Bruce, and what a story! Top of the top in terms of quality and so nice it came to the right person! Congratulations.

 

[bruce linde]

the clock runs for 36 days... there is a power indicator that can be seen under the XII

it would be more accurate to say it has an "it's been running for x days" indicator... with built in stopwork. there is a steel... bushing?... that slides over the winding arbor and has an extension that moves (with the arbor) in a clockwise direction. it looks like that extension goes from about 12 to 4 over 24 hours, which means that it makes a full revolution every three days, which means the barrel turns 12 times over its run time. the extension drives the larger indicator gear every three days.

may be old hat to some, but this is my first clock with such an indicator.

the thing i've noticed about the german precision regulators is how well-thought-out they are... and how well designed the functions and little extras are... i guess precise begets precision.

 

[novicetimekeeper]

more about lange and grossmann....

info on these guys has been culled from multiple sources, starting with ermert's fantastic (even if in german) 454-page präzisionspendeluhren in deutschland von 1730 bis 1940 volume 3...


View attachment 743396

ferdinand adolph lange

. during that time he attended lectures by arago, learning physics and improving his theoretical knowledge.

One of the things Arago is famous for is proving the existence of the poisson spot, and therefore the wave nature of light. (duality came later) Poisson argued, successfully, that light must be particulate as otherwise a bright spot would be seen in the shadow of a sphere. Arago later proved that such a spot did exist.

Here is my recreation of Arago's proof using a laser.

 

[Bernhard J.]

may be old hat to some, but this is my first clock with such an indicator.

Presumably a consequence of the hidden weight channel, because otherwise you would not know when to wind.

Lovely precision clock. By the way, Grossmann favored the five rod pendulum over the seven rod pendulum.

 

[bruce linde]

dating the clock...

(according to watch--wiki-org)

"in großmann volunteered for the german army, returning to glashütte after the end of the schleswig-holstein uprising (peace of malmö, august 1848) and worked for 7 months at lange. in 1849 the may uprising broke out in dresden and großmann was drafted back into the army. his military service ended in 1852. he then worked in london and traveled to france, spain, belgium and sweden to train as a watchmaker. in 1854 großmann founded his watch factory, which he ran until his death."

there are examples of very similar clocks by gutkaes, who mentored his (future son-in-law):



the case on mine was clearly built for the grossman pendulum. the lange/grossmann collaboration spanned a very short seven months from september 1848 to march 1849. again, informed speculation... but a preponderance of evidence, and all that.

this also supports the argument that there wouldn't have been two of these clocks...

 

[bruce linde]

One of the things Arago is famous for is proving the existence of the poisson spot, and therefore the wave nature of light. (duality came later) Poisson argued, successfully, that light must be particulate as otherwise a bright spot would be seen in the shadow of a sphere. Arago later proved that such a spot did exist. Here is my recreation of Arago's proof using a laser.

you continue to surprise and impress.

so... another astonomer and observatory in the story of the clock.

"in 1839, arago reported the invention of photography (by louis daguerre) to stunned listeners of a joint meeting of the academies of arts and sciences. he was named by the emperor one of the astronomers of the paris observatory, which was accordingly his residence till his death. it was in this capacity that he delivered his remarkably successful series of popular lectures in astronomy, which were continued from 1812 to 1845. the arago telescope (lunette arago) is a 38 cm (15 inch) aperturerefracting telescope at paris observatory, installed in 1857; the equatorial mounting made by brunner was delivered in 1859 and the clock drive for the equatorial was made by breguet." (of course it was.... )

 

[novicetimekeeper]

you continue to surprise and impress.

so... another astonomer and observatory in the story of the clock.

"in 1839, arago reported the invention of photography (by louis daguerre) to stunned listeners of a joint meeting of the academies of arts and sciences. he was named by the emperor one of the astronomers of the paris observatory, which was accordingly his residence till his death. it was in this capacity that he delivered his remarkably successful series of popular lectures in astronomy, which were continued from 1812 to 1845. the arago telescope (lunette arago) is a 38 cm (15 inch) aperturerefracting telescope at paris observatory, installed in 1857; the equatorial mounting made by brunner was delivered in 1859 and the clock drive for the equatorial was made by breguet." (of course it was.... )

I just love recreating historic experiments, important steps in the advancement of science. Sadly the current curriculum is so packed with content already that I can't get too much of it taken on by teachers, but the history of the science of light is fascinating, and discussion about duality (both particle and wave) is still in there. The story behind the Poisson spot has always interested me, that they called it the Poisson spot because he was wrong, and that a century or two later it was realised he was both right and wrong is fascinating.

 

[bruce linde]

lange, lange & cie, a. lange & sohne:

- 1841... lange returns from paris and begins working with gutkaes (his father in law). according to ermert, they made five precision regulators together, one in a royal palace.
- 1842... lange takes over the business, marries gutkaes' daughter
- 1845... lange gets a loan from the government, founds A. Lange & Cie
- 1848... grossmann volunteers for the army
- 1848-1849... grossmann works with lange (seven months, sept. 1848 - april, 1849
- 1868... lange partners with his eldest son, Richard, as A. Lange & Söhne



lange was also the first watchmaker in europe to introduce the metric system in his workshop, converting dimensions from the old paris line measuring system; the saxon government officially introduced the meter in 1858.



two other seconds regulators, one from gutkaes and one from lane... note the similarities between them and mine:

- 60" tall cases
- 6 3/4" bezels with 6 1/2" dials and 6 1/4" chapter rings
- upside down escapements, large seconds chapters from just below dial centers to bottom edge of chapter ring (no VI)
- movements with round plates (flat bottoms), in round brass cases
- according to ermert, the mercury pendulums weigh 9 kg. according to martin huber (Die Uhren von A. Lange und Söhne, Glashütte / Sachsen) gutkaes used four jars to increase the surface area of the mercury for quicker temperature response.

 

[bruce linde]

love the way this thing looks during the day, with natural light:

 

[Ralph]

Bruce,

I’ve been meaning to ask you, is the Lange a seconds beat clock. It seem like the beat is different then the Strasser. It’s probably my imagination

I can’t think of a reason why it would be. It probably has to do with the pendulum’s point of suspension.

Ralph

 

[novicetimekeeper]

love the way this thing looks during the day, with natural light:

Matthew would go spare with those out of synch pendula. Sensory over load.

 

[bruce linde]

yes... seconds.

I’ve been meaning to ask you, is the Lange a seconds beat clock. It seem like the beat is different then the Strasser. It’s probably my imagination. I can’t think of a reason why it would be. It probably has to do with the pendulum’s point of suspension.

can't believe i didn't think to measure the pendulum (and susension spring) length when everything was apart, but the pendulum length is approx. 43 3/8" (from bottom of bob to top of pendulum hook), with approx. another inch to the supension spring flex point (which of course is now just at or inside the bottom of the brass surround encasing the movement).

Matthew would go spare with those out of synch pendula. Sensory over load.

and here i was, focusing on how the pendulum looked when well-lit.

both the lange and the strasser & rohde are still being fine-regulated and occasionally pretend they don't see each other. although i have an app on my iphone, i prefer to make minute adjustments to regulating knobs as needed... i will do my best to re-take the video when they are next in sync.

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

Congratulations on some very fine recent acquisitions!

And a big thank you for sharing some great information/pix and being most generous with your research.

Also, congratulations on how far you've come in a relatively brief period of time.

To wit, wasn't that long ago you had posted a less than stellar Howard style repro and stated that you didn't have the acquisition budget of others.

Since your windfall, it has truly propelled you into an entirely different level of collecting of vetted clocks.

Enjoy!

RM

 

[bruce linde]

thank you for sharing some great information/pix and being most generous with your research.

one of the benefits of the messsage board is sharing nuances about better clocks with those who truly appreciate... i have friends who like to come visit my 'clock museum' (as they call it), but they don't have the awareness to appreciate more than a few details. reminds me of the brilliant gary larson cartoon. 'what dogs hear':



i'll say something like, "it's an extremely rare precision regulator clock from one of the original influencers of the german school of precision watchmaking, with an even rarer grossmann pendulum, and it's accurate to within a second over 60 days" and they'll hear "blah blah blah blah CLOCK blah blah blah". seriously, there are a couple of regulars (including my mentor, who made visiting rights a condition of the sale of this one) who really do appreciate them and look forward to seeing each new acquisition... but not as many as on the MB.

there's also using the MB to capture and preserve information that would otherwise be scattered and/or lost in the ether. it took days and days of digging to come up with the information about this clock (much of it in german, using my iphone to translate) and the people directly or peripherally involved in its making and preservation... i want my threads to either contribute to the research library aspect of the MB at the same time they strengthen and support the sharing community as a whole. better content helps attract and inform.

i am still hoping for a follow-up response from the james lick observatory... got a reply to my initial information request that was cc'd to their head of historical collections.... but haven't heard back from him yet.


in the meantime, hell, yes, i'm enjoying it (and the french floor regulator with equation of time, and the others....).

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

How come no American clocks?

I would assume you can now afford some fine ones with your new found resources?

Why not write some articles for the Bulletin? You've done the research and took the pictures.

RM

 

[bruce linde]

i am still hoping for a follow-up response from the james lick observatory... got a reply to my initial information request that was cc'd to their head of historical collections.... but haven't heard back from him yet.

and just like that, an email arrives. here are his comments and the .pdf he shared:

From what you write about the clock's precision and quality of manufacture, I think the it would, in fact, have been suitable for an observatory of Lick's calibre, but it is not mentioned among the observatory's five original clocks described in Vol. I of Publications of Lick Observatory,1887, the relevant pages of which I've attached. (As I side-note, electrical connections are only mentioned for the Frodsham (which Lick has just reacquired) and Howard clocks, so the absence of one would not necessarily have disqualified your clock.)

Another side-note: I wouldn't say Keeler: was "hired to run the time service," but rather that he was the staff astronomer charged with running it. Keeler was, in my opinion, the most brilliant and forward looking member of Lick's early staff, the only one with a doctorate in astronomy, and a specialist in the then cutting-edge field of spectroscopy. In addition to the discoveries you mention, he did fundamental work on nebulae, and most significantly was the first to show that what we now call galaxies are a fundamental constituent of the universe.

ain't that cool, and how about that keeler!

 

[bruce linde]

How come no American clocks? I would assume you can now afford some fine ones with your new found resources?

first off, those resources have been converted into 1) the exceptional ones i've posted about recently (this one, french floor regulator with equation of time and coteau dial, rodanet carriage clock, etc).... and 2) retirement. the pockets ain't THAT deep.

while i do clock shop relentlessly, i only buy the special few that resonate with me... when i can.

american? i do have earlier sawin and willard school timepieces (and the sawin gallery clock, and a lovely howard & davis no. 1), but find i resonate more with german and french clocks... especially the (more) precision regulators with gridiron pendulums. i also live in california, under constant threat of the coming big earthquake... not really enamored of mercury pendulums (although the higher quality enclosed metal container ones in clocks i can't really afford do call to me ).

i talked with one collector who had 'at least one' of every e. howard model ever made. that's nice.... but howards do nothing for me and i prefer unique/special clocks, more hand-crafted than mass-produced.

Why not write some articles for the Bulletin? You've done the research and took the pictures.

thought about re-working this thread as a bulletin article, but still hold out hope that the organization (and moderation team) will someday dedicate resources to actively curating and featuring quality content on the MB.

yes, there's a little slideshow widget on the MB main page that shows some featured threads... but only two at a time, and clearly not 'owned' by anyone in particular (where is this thread, or the one i created for the french floor regulator with coteau dial? both are exceptional clocks with lots of information read by many MB-ers).

 

[Ralph]

Bruce, looking at the anchor/suspension block and the comment about the beat adjustment. I’m thinking the square keyed shaft protruding from the block operates an eccentric or ?.

Ralph

 

[bruce linde]

Bruce, looking at the anchor/suspension block and the comment about the beat adjustment. I’m thinking the square keyed shaft protruding from the block operates an eccentric or ?. Ralph

yes... you use a little watch key to put it in beat

 

[bruce linde]

- according to ermert, the mercury pendulums weigh 9 kg. according to martin huber (Die Uhren von A. Lange und Söhne, Glashütte / Sachsen) gutkaes used four jars to increase the surface area of the mercury for quicker temperature response.

was just reading derek roberts' 'precision pendulum clocks: the quest for perfection', and roberts gives a more comprehensive explanation of the benefits of using multiple smaller jars of mercury:

"to improve the performance of the mercurial pendulum by speeding its response to thermal change, two variations were developed during the nineteenth century. the first was the use of two or more separate glass jars, thus reducing the thickn ess of the glass required, greatly increasing the surface area, and decreasing the mass of mercury in any one container, all factors which speed its themal compensation."

the second variation using cast iron or steel instead of glass, as by frodsham and dent.

 

[bruce linde]

more on the grossmann pendulum


i've continued to look for more info on the grossmann pendulum in order to make sure my dating of the clock is reasonable and accurate.

it turns out that grossmann didn't really invent the 5-rod gridiron 'zinc' pendulum, but refined work done previously by gutkaes, lange, krille (with whom he worked and studied 'the construction of astronomical clocks according to kessels') and tiedes. here is an example from 1850 from tiedes (who ran with gutkaes and lange).



i kept having the nagging thought that the clock could have been built later, by a. lange & sohne (i.e., 1868 to when davidson might have acquired it for his observatory, around 1879)... but the a. lange & sohne pictured below uses the later/final version of the pendulum formalized by grossmann in his "the production of a good pendulum clock with seconds pendulum" in 1878, available from directly from grossmann as well as strasser & rohde (pendulum #4); note the tapered cup mid-way up for fine-tuning regulation using lead shot. btw, at some point grossmann moved away from the zinc pendulum because zinc was 'too soft'.



both of the examples shown share similar features: longer duration, state of wind indicators, jeweled pallets, and 5-rod pendulums with central zinc rod with multiple holes near the top for fine regulation, removable case fronts and driving weights descending behind woodcovers. on the a. lange & sohne the bob seems too big and out of proportion (especially after looking at my clock); it seems odd that it isn't more centered in the lower window.

interestingly, all of the german reference books refer to these as "rost-kompensations-sekundenpendel"... which google and iphones translate as 'rust pendulums'. apparently 'rost' means both 'rust' and 'grid' (maybe Allan C. Purcell or Bernhard J. could comment?)

 

[Bernhard J.]

Hi Bruce,

Indeed "rost" has several meanings, one is rust (mixture of Fe2O3 and FeO), the other is grid. For example a grill has a "rost", which is the grid-formed grill grate, i.e. the part where you put the steak on.

Cheers, Bernhard

 

[bruce linde]

Hi Bruce, Indeed "rost" has several meanings, one is rust (mixture of Fe2O3 and FeO), the other is grid. For example a grill has a "rost", which is the grid-formed grill grate, i.e. the part where you put the steak on. Cheers, Bernhard

well, that confused the heck out of me until i thought to check a german dictionary.
thx!

 

[bruce linde]

in the 'all will be revealed' category....

there is some writing etched on the underside of the winding key:



my reading is:

[from?] arthur
germany 2.8 [something] oct 1910 (maybe 2 october 8pm?)

arthur f. h. weule was 33 in 1910 (according to the 1940 census that showed him as 63)... and the backboard the clock case mounts to does have that label saying 'by arthur f. h. weule oct 2, 1910'... which is further confirmation that the weules had it from 1910 to 1950.



any other readings of the inscription?

 

[bruce linde]

not sure the first word in the second line is germany... i've highlighted (in white) what look like 'r's, and what look like 'n's....

 

[novicetimekeeper]

Germany isn't German but English, so it would seem an odd thing to write wouldn't it?

 

[bruce linde]

we know the weules picked it up from golden gate park in 1910... as i said, i no longer think it says 'germany' but could have seen them writing that on the key to identify where it came from (rather than 'german'). the engraving is just shallow and worn enough so we'll probably never know.

 

[bruce linde]

a few more connect-the-dot mentions of louis weule, george davidson and j.c. pascoe....

j.c. pascoe and louis weule listed side-by-side in the mechants assoc. review of 1904





also from 1904... "original artwork for george davidson's book on the alaskan boundary dispute. the work consists of a us coast and geodetic survey chart amended by george davidson, for publication in "the alaska boundary," published in 1904. in addition to the manuscript amendments, additions, and editorial directions, the map is signed by davidson. a number of manuscript additions are included, as well as areas marked to be excluded by davidson. a note referencing vancouver's astronomical station july-august 1793 is included. rubberstamp of louis weule, chronometer maker, san francisco, in lower margin, crossed out by davidson; ucb duplicate rubberstamp as well."




a louis weule course card from 1926 (yacht amaya)




also... i have what is apparently one of the first louis weule branded chelsea clocks, a 4.5" dial time-only marine clock engraved (somewhat crudely) 'S.P. Co.' and 'Melrose'... the latter being the first auto-ferry in the san francisco bay, built in 1906, launched in 1909 (installation of engines delayed due to the quake) and taken out of service in 1933; it transported autos back and forth from the san francisco ferry building to jack london square. we're checking the original chelsea logs to see if any additional information is available.

 

[rstl99]

Bruce, I haven't had time to read all the information in this thread on your clock, but your research and documentation is most impressive. How nice for you to have had a good relationship with your "clock mentor" and that he decided to bequeath his prized clock to you for its caring (for a few decades anyway, until it goes to someone else...)

This thread is a great example of how NAWCC members can document some of their prized timepieces for others to learn about, and be able to search for and refer to in years to come (assuming the site will continue to make this information and photos available). You could probably not have easily fit all this information (and photos) in a NAWCC Bulletin article, had you decided to format your research this way.

Well done.

Robert

 

[bruce linde]

i reached out to a seller of german precision regulators in germany to ask if he could provide any more information about or insight into grossmann and his pendulum. he replied in the affirmative and forwarded some 40 scans of a Klassic Uhren magazine article on grossmann and pages and pages from vol. 4 of ermert's series on precision clocks in germany (i've been working from vol. 3). there wasn't a ton of new information, but more light was shed on topics mentioned so far.



before working with gutkaes lange worked with austrian watchmaker joseph thaddeus winnerl, a former apprentice of abraham-louis breuget... turns out that was from 1837-1841. winnerl invented the return-to-zero and split-second mechanisms and was "particularly focused on achieving absolute excellence in chronometry"; his ship's chronometers were so accurate and well-built they were still in regular use by the french navy in the late 1970s, even after the introduction of atomic timekeeping.

lange updated winnerl's design for an 'upside-down' (or as the german texts call it: 'fallen design') graham anchor escapement that doesn't require a crutch, with the clock he and gutkaes presented in 1842: gutkaes & lange no. 21. like mine, it had a movement with round plates held and protected in a round brass enclosure, matching weight pulley, and a door behind the pendulum concealing the weight and weight channel.

i was thinking my clock was made during the seven months lange and grossmann worked directly together (later 1848 into early 1849, but apparently in germany there was a system somewhat akin to the french carriage clock industry called the 'publishing system', where 'home workers' specialized in creating and delivering semi- or fully-finished components per 'publisher' specifications. the specialists who trained at adolph lange had to commit to working for lange in the publishing system for (at least) five years. this system started in 1848 with hand production and evolved into specialties. according to the "annual report of the HGK Dresden" (?) in 1864, during the previous ten years 18 of these special craftsmen worked for four watch companies in the german publishing system.

grossmann began his pendulum (and anchor) design in in the early 1850s, per this drawing... which looks like the anchor on mine:



i think my clock is earlier, both because the case design leans back more toward gutkaes and lange (early 1840s) than forward to a. lange & sohne (1868 and on) and because of this anchor design, which looks earlier to me. in every example i've found that dates to later than the early 1850s the anchors have an additional hole that would catch on a steel post should the suspension spring break and the pendulum start to fall... which seems like a later refinement to me. here's an grossmann example from 1860:



given all of the above, i'm revising my dating of the clock to c1854-1859.

 

[bruce linde]

i'm beginning to think it might be more accurate to call this a 'lange clock with zinc and steel gridiron pendulum later refined by and attributed to grossmann'.

when lange was training with winnerl in paris in march of 1841 he wrote to gutkaes that he had come up with a new pendulum setup for winnerl that used "an ordinary graham hook, but without a shaft and without a fork." lange returned to dresden in june 1841, where (according to his son, richard) he built 'several such watches'.

ermert shows a 'typical hamburg style of precision regulator case, c1850':



lange also worked with tiede (based in berlin) who we know was using zinc and steel gridiron pendulums in 1850:



and, here's a clock build by lange in 1843:



grossmann didn't formalize the zinc and steel pendulum design until a little later… but others were documented as using it much earlier.... and there is grossmann's drawing of a verge that matches mine, from 1854.

still thinking (early) c1850s....

 

[bruce linde]

from watch-wiki.org (originally in german):

"in 1846 tiede received the (Prussia) Order of the Red Eagle Order IV Class for his services. he produced approx. 350 [!] naval chronometers mainly based on English raw materials and very fine pendulum clocks in a fallen construction with a gravity inhibition in the style of Taddaeus Winnerl, Paris. His astronomical pendulum clocks were used worldwide."

('fallen construction w gravity inhibition' is how the german for 'upside down escapement w/ no crutch' gets translated. the exclamation point is mine )

hope others find these historical nuggets as fascinating as i do. i like the corroboration around my clock, but 350 chronometers... seriously? when he wasn't also making fine pendulum clocks? yikes...

 

[bruce linde]

coming back to the note left by arthur weule in the winding barrel of the movemnt in 1910.... 'originally made for ohm by adolphe lange dresden'...

after the usual somewhat relentless googling the only 'ohm' i can come up with is Georg Ohm - Wikipedia ...

it would fit if one thinks my thoughts on the date of the clock are reasonable.... maybe?

 

[roughbarked]

An absolutely fascinating thread. Thanks.

 

[bruce linde]

An absolutely fascinating thread. Thanks.

pls believe me when i say: my pleasure!