97th Auction

2018/5/12

Lot 34

Max Richter, Berlin S.W., 187 x 122 x 187 mm, circa 1900
A large deck chronometer with 8 day movement and power reserve indicator, formerly property of the observatory of Babelsberg
Case: mahogany. Dial: silvered. Movm.: brass movement, 120 mm, chain/fusee, spring detent escapement according to Thomas Earnshaw, bimetallic chronometer balance with 2 screws and 2 weights.
Max Richter was born on October 27, 1866 and attended the watchmaking school in Glashütte from 1884 to 1885. He continued to have a close relationship with Glashütte all his working life and purchased the movements for his precision pendulum clocks from Strasser & Rohde.
From 1901 on Richter taught technical drawing for watch- and clockmakers at the technical school for craftsmen in Berlin. He became a master in 1903 and from 1904 on he also taught the calculation of wheel and gear sizes. For some time Max Richter was a member of the board of the Berlin association of watch- and clockmakers, and later of the German association of watch- and clockmakers. Max Richter died in Berlin on December 25, 1922 at the age of 56. He had close relationships with national and international scientific institutes, which he supplied with precision pendulum clocks and other instruments. The observatory in Stockholm still owns Richter’s pendulum clock no. 105; Professer Wanach (of the royal geodesic institute in Potsdam) tested one of Richter’s pendulum clocks (of which we have no serial number) on request of the observatory in Lisbon - the clock was intended for the time signal station at Lourenco Marques (Maputo today), the capital of Mozambique.
Source: Viktor Pröstler: "Zeitsignale für die Seefahrt", in "Klassik Uhren" 2/1998, p. 22 ff
Max Richter’s timepieces were always noted for their accuracy and the movement of this chronometer of exceptional size (over 6 cm) is also of supreme quality.
Illustrated and described in von Bertele: "Marine- und Taschenchronometer", Callway, Munich 1981, page 260

Sold

estimated
5.00010.000 €
Price realized
5.000 €