Bonniksen Karrussel with Admiralty documentation

[Tom McIntyre]

I was inspired to fetch my Bonniksen from the bank and take some pictures.


The sponsors mark on this case is William Thomas Bullock, 10 Cherry St. Coventry. The Chester hallmark is for 1901-1902.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

I took a movie of the watch running and upoaded it to the gallery. I think I can post it here but I have not done that very often...

FullSizeRender.mov

• Tom McIntyre
• Jan 15, 2022

Learning how movies work. Bonniksen.

It was not that difficult, but there is a fairly long delay while it is processed. There is a limit on the acceptable size of the movie.

I think this watch may have been reported lost at sea a bit over 100 years ago. That might have been why I have not shown it before. I may be able to find its record of purchase, etc.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

I found the docuemntation that Peter Linstead-Smith provided me with on this watch and some others..

Since this discussion would disrupt the earlier thread, I decided to copy my posts from there to here.

The previous posts show a nice example of the Bonniksen which I purchased several years ago when a lot of things were going on and the story had temporarily slipped my mind.

The record of chronometers is kept at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich where the records from Kew and other sources were gathered together some time ago. When I purchased this watch, Jonathan Betts and Peter Linstead Smith were working with the organization and continuing development of those records. I contacted Jonathan who was in charge at the time and he asked Peter to provide me with information on several pieces I had purchased. The Bonniksen was the most recent purchase, but there were chronometers by Fletcher and Bond as well.



The Digest Book contains single pages for each piece that is covered. I believe it is/was intended to provide quick status for items when searching. It has the purchase record for April 1904 with a cost of gbp 19-6.. There is are two repair entries for Feb 6 to Mar 9 of 1906 (unspecified work) and Feb 21 to Mar 16 of 1912 to provide a new balance staff.

The the record shows Lost in "Velox" which indicates the watch was a casualty of the loss of the Velox on July 3rd, 1916. It was not uncommon for small timepieces to disappear in this way during the loss of a ship.



The Royal Observatory tracks assignments of Chronometers over their lifetime. In this particular case we can see a number of assignments of Bonniksen's 56885. It also shows the reference to the Hydrographic Service notice of loss.

The set of records also includes the document "Rates of Deck Watches on Trial for Purchase by the Admiralty at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, from 1903 October 24 to 1904 February 13.

That document is a bit larger than the others and I will need to get a good image of it. 56885 was near the bottom in its performance marks with 58.6 marks, but was well within the upper limit of 100 marks which was the cutoff for purchases according to the document.

 

[zacandy]

What a lovely Bomniksen karussel.

And with the British government property pheon on the movement.

Hey as a British taxpayer and the descendant of many I wonder how that got out of the public domain? Sold after WW1?

Just lovely Sir.

Andrew

 

[Tom McIntyre]

It was "lost" so posession was no longer recorded after that date. It is probably, technically, still the property of the Admiralty. I do not know that there has ever been any formal procedure for clearing the records of such items.

If they would like to recover their GBP 20, I would not object if the Lord's of the Admiralty wanted to provide me with a certificate of ownership.

 

[Bernhard J.]

If they would like to recover their GBP 20, I would not object if the Lord's of the Admiralty wanted to provide me with a certificate of ownership.

And even if one takes into account a purchasing power index since 1904, based on the price of eggs, for example (McDonalds did not exist in 1904, so a hamburger index cannot be determined), then 20,-- GBP would become 125,-- GBP. Even that would still be quite acceptable.

 

[Ethan Lipsig]

I was surprised that the film clip Tom M. included in post #2 did not show how a karrusel's escapement rotates. The pictures below of my Sharman Neill PL karrusel illustrate that rotation.

The Watch



The Rotation

 

[SKennedy]

Really lovely Tom. Ticks many boxes: Bonniksen rather than retailer, and historical usage and records.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

I think I have been able to make a decent image of the purchase trials that included this Bonniksen and two others. One of its mates was the top rated deck watch. Of the 40 deck watches, 25 were karrussels.

If you click on this image you can expand it to its full image size.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

I bumped up the contrast on my iPhone.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

This Barraud & Lunds karrussel belongs to the standard design in the larger size. It fills a need in my Barraud collection. The case was made by Joseph Walton, Clerkenwell, 1896-1897.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

This Karrussel is a bit more special
Bonniksen did not make any fusee frames and it is generally thought that they were made by Usher & Cole with the total number 10 or less
The elaborate inscription on the back of the case is from 1942 and is almost certainly a second presentation. It’s from the parents in what appears to be their handwriting. We might speculate that the watch belonged to the father or even the grandfather of the target of the inscription.

The inner cover with the traditional Barraud "just in case" winding holes has the date letter d for1899-1900.The outer back cover with the inscription on the outside carries the date letter i for 1904-1905. The sponsor mark is JW on both pieces. It is likely John Walton of, 7 Upper Charles St. Clerkenwell.

 

[Bernhard J.]

Hi Tom,

This Karrusell with fusee, up and down, and keyless wind really is very special. .

Cheers, Bernhard

 

[John Matthews]

Tom your Barraud & Lunds is indeed a fine watch with some interesting features.

I think there is more to the supplier of the movement. It was supplied by Joseph Preston & Sons according to Jagger's Supplement, viz. 4595/4624 - 25 '3 keyless fusee movts to own calipers' (p.267)- based on a manuscript in the Guildhall Library. Most of the movements supplied were for their half-chronometer highest quality free-sprung levers. The same source shows a gap in the identified Usher & Cole supplied movements between 4500 (1885~) and 4854 (1926~). Do you have a reference that confirms that Usher & Cole were involved in the manufacture of the watch. On the basis of Jagger, I would have thought a Preston movement, Bonniksen escapement finished by Barraud & Lunds, was more likely. It would be interesting to know whether Preston's stamp is on the top face of the pillar plate - the presence isn't noted by Jagger.

As to the date of the movement, again referring to Jagger, I think it was likely made in or before 1900. This corresponding to the earlier hallmark of 1899/1900 on the hinged dome. Given the difference with the date of the back, and the same maker's mark of John Walton, begs the question whether the original outer case was damaged and the watch returned to Walton to make a replacement.

John

 

[Tom McIntyre]

John, I have not tried to verify the Usher & Cole remark. That was the generally accepted view when I got the watch. I think there have only been 4 or 5 identified with fusee and karrussel.

Thank you for the Jagger reference which I had overlooked (although having read the book at least a dozen times). I agree that the "own caliper" remark makes it pretty clear they made the watch in house in its final form.

I had let myself beleve that they were not really making anything in house by the 1890's. I guess they considered this piece and its two companions very special.

The covers are an interesting puzzle. The years between the hallmark dates could have a number of explanations. I recall at least one anecdote that these watches took a long time to deliver and easily 3 to 5 years. The inscription on the back is for 40 years later and I wish I could find out who the watch was presented to. Since the presentation is two generations after the date the watch was made, my working theory is that the watch was given to the grandson of the original owner on a special birthday while serving in India.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

This is wandering a bit off topic, but the relationship of Usher & Cole to Barraud & Lunds is captured in this watch from my collection B&L 3/1600

This watch took me forever to buy. I was back bidder at two major auctions before I finally paid what seemed like an exorbitant price to get it from my professional friends who were buying it for speculation.The Barraud Dynasty / 3rd Series Minute repeater - 3/1600

 

[John Matthews]

Tom - have you ever had the dial off to check for a JW stamp on the front of the pillar plate of the repeater?

John

 

[Dr. Jon]

Here is another keyless fusee Karrussel, also by Usher and Cole.




This one does not have Admiralty papers but it got a Kew A with 70 points, actually a disappointing result.

The watch has a signed Willis dial so it checks several boxes for me.

I have the Usher and Cole work page on it. The last owner of the firm stated that they made a toal ot three of these.

I wonder where the third is

 

[Tom McIntyre]

I have been keeping these running for a while now and I thought it might be interesting to compare sizes.
This is not a great picture but you might find it interesting.