104th Auction
2021/5/22
Lot 319
Frank C. SmithTourbillon 1939
An extremely rare American pocket watch with one-minute tourbillon
Sold
estimated
4.000—6.000 €
Price realized
8.900 €
specific features
Case
10k gold-plated, chiselled and hand-engraved, the back lid decorated with flowers, leaves and an ornamental band, glazed movement.
Dial
Enamel.
Movement
Bridge movement, tourbillon, gold screw compensation balance.
Case no.42571
Cal.Waltham
Diam.52 mm
Circa1940
Ctry.US-American
Wt.93 g
None of the early pocket watch makers in America had marketable tourbillons in their product range. This timepiece is the only tourbillon we know that was produced in the U.S. in the early1940s. It is possibly a graduation piece created by Frank C. Smith, who applied for a patent for a timer mechanism in 1942.