Very early Longines for Russian market (Paul Buhre)

[pmwas]

I just finished working on it. Paid with my health, as it was terribly frustrating, but it works now.



Sorry, just this one picture for now. I'm not ready with the pics yet, but... I'm just so, so, SO excited!!! S/N 22,762...

Stunning piece!

 

[viclip]

That must be the Romanov coat of arms?

 

[pmwas]

Imperial Russian in general

On it's wings it has Russian provinces of the time.

 

[Keith R...]

Yeah, but who could pronounce the provinces LOL.....................

Looking forward to pics Paul!!

Keith R...

 

[viclip]

Imperial Russian in general

On it's wings it has Russian provinces of the time.

Most interesting, looking forward to your detailed restoration photos ...

 

[eric the bully]

""The Lesser Coat of Arms (Малый государственный герб Российской Империи) depicts the imperial double-headed eagle, as used in the coat of arms, with the addition of the collar of the Order of Saint Andrew around the escutcheon of St. George, and the Arms of Astrakhan, Siberia, Georgia, Finland, Kiev-Vladimir-Novgorod, Taurica, Poland and Kazan on the wings (seen clockwise).""

Coat of arms of Russia - Wikipedia

regards enrico

 

[pmwas]

I have to admit it was a 5 hour frustrating work, so I forgot to take the dial side pictures
Anyway, there is just the motion works and a matching Longines number 22762
The lack od 3rd wheel dial side jewel makes it a 14 jewel watch.

The movement is 'just' a KW Longines, very similar to this one I've already shown:

Early KW Longines from 1875

It has, however, a more elaborate clock and click cover bridge and now I wonder - does it mean it was higher grade (hmmm… 14 vs 15 jewels - that other watch has now metal bushings on the top side, but it used to be 15 jewel), or does it mean that, despite an 'earlier' number it was actually finished later?



Longines' angle lever escapement on board.
This is now almost done, but I... yes I dropped the entire balance assembly to the ground ruining (maybe luckily just) the hairspring
It took a lot of time to find and pin the matching hairspring to the balance and yet I still had to shorten it a lot.



Nothing to be proud of, but I was swearing so loud I got a sore throat.
Really. I just couldn't believe this could happen - dropped the entire assembled balance cock and balance to the ground, my God.
You can see a Swiss silver mark, but not the Russian '84' mark, because it was very likely imported before the hallmark became mandatory for imported silver.



Cased and running, but not too well - below par amplitude and maybe it needs a new mainspring.
Notice the Russian markings on the balance cock!



On the front lid, there is a lovely made Russian imperial coats of arms.
Most of the enamel still on.



Right here I was to describe the eagle, but... Enrico did that for me, and even better than I would have
On the cuvette...



...there is a well known Paul Buhre inscription.



Now - if the S/N 72,935 movement was made in 1875 you can expect the 22,762 to be made much earlier, but since Paul Buhre started off in Russia in 1874, it's likely this movement is actually from the same, or even slightly later period.
I wonder how much a certificate would cost - maybe I'll email Longines for details



The dial is white enamel, it's just a yellow crystal.
Yellowed crystals should be removed, as they are known to produce corrosive gas, but I'll leave it for now - the process has likely already ended and the hands are not corroded at all, so maybe not in this case

Lovely watch this is. It's an exceptionally early Buhre, made before the '84 mark, so likely this actually was made in the first few years of Buhre's operations in Russia. It actually looks like Buhre started off doing business with Longines and it went on for some years, as shown here:

Paul Buhre - Longines old Russian pocket watch

I'm terribly happy to have this watch - this might actually 'remember' three Russian Emperors, which is rare.
The last Russian Emperor, Nicolas II, shown below on this fancy French postcard of the era I've also recently aquired.:



And so… best wishes to you all from The Three Emperors' Corner again!!! View attachment 523187

 

[viclip]

All very interesting from both an horological & historical perspective.

Maybe one day I'll come upon an Imperial Russian pocket watch. Do you know enough Russian to decipher the indications on the regulator?

I'm thinking that the "у" signifies "ускорять" being faster.

And that the "п" signifies "помедленнее" being slower.

Am I close, do you know?

There's a prize for any board member who can pronounce those Russian words out loud ...

 

[pmwas]

Looking at the regulator P definitely means faster and U definitely means slower. I'll have to check that and I will
For me it's relatively easy to pronounce Russian words as they are somewhat similar to Polish, somewhat softer, though. I know the alphabeth but I've never learned the language, as we're into western languages in Poland now

 

[viclip]

Looking at the regulator P definitely means faster and U definitely means slower. I'll have to check that and I will
For me it's relatively easy to pronounce Russian words as they are somewhat similar to Polish, somewhat softer, though. I know the alphabeth but I've never learned the language, as we're into western languages in Poland now

Sounds like I managed to get things backwards!

 

[pmwas]

I think the only thing that fits would be прирост (increase) and уменьшение (decrease). Not sure but that's what fits. However - since your idea 'fits' as well, I understand why they switched to + - in the USSR

 

[viclip]

I think the only thing that fits would be прирост (increase) and уменьшение (decrease). Not sure but that's what fits. However - since your idea 'fits' as well, I understand why they switched to + - in the USSR

I think that you are correct.

Keep up the good work restoring those old pocket watches!

 

[Dano4734]

It’s beautiful

 

[pmwas]

Just slightly OT, but fits this thread nicely - I just got a lovely French commemorative plate:



Commemorates the Russian-French military maneuvers.
So nice

 

[pmwas]

I got info from Longines.
According to their archives, this S/N should be a silver hunting case cal 20B keywind watch made in 1870/71. All seems to fit, except I don’t know what exactly is the 20B...

 

[pmwas]