96th Auction

2017/11/18

Lot 5

Master's mark "MH", attributed to Martin Haimmert (Heimert), Nuremberg, 58 x 43 mm, 118 g, circa 1600
A pre-balance spring Renaissance pendant watch with one hand
Case: brass, gilt. Dial: brass, gilt. Movm.: brass full plate movement, gilt, barrel, stackfreed, verge escapement, foliot and hog's bristle, two-arm steel balance without balance spring.
This oval pendant watch is all-over exquisitely engraved with arabesque ornaments. The front lid has 12 apertures to display the hours; the centre is engraved with a sun. The equally lavishly embellished dial has a central ornament and Roman (I-XII) as well as Arabic numerals (13-24) and raised nubs for reading the hours in the dark.
The records of Jürgen Abeler show that Martin Heimert was mentioned as a watchmaker and metalworker in Nuremberg around 1599. It is not known when Heimert was born; he died in 1612.
Source: Jürgen Abeler, Meister der Uhrmacherkunst, 2. Edition, Wuppertal 2010, p. 228

Sold

estimated
11.00020.000 €
Price realized
10.000 €