Antique Silver Longines Pocket Watch, 1883

Antique silver Longines pocket watch, 1883

The watch has a stem-winding movement which is working nicely. The movement is signed with the name Longines, the Longines wings logo and the initials GF for Grosjean Freres, Longines distributors. The movement is stamped, ‘Longines Patented Click’. In watchmaking, a "click" is the pawl that interacts with the ratchet wheel to prevent the mainspring from unwinding. In the late 19th century, Longines developed and patented a vastly improved, specialized click system for their keyless, crown-wound pocket watches. This patented click replaced more fragile, spring-tensioned components with a robust, centralized design that made winding the watch smoother, more reliable, and less prone to breakage.

The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover which is engraved, ‘Der Werth des Menschen ist das Gute, das er thut’ (The value of a person lies in the good they do). It is also signed with the name of the watch maker F F Tost, Leipzig.

The watch measures 48mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is 800 silver and there are Continental hallmarks inside both of the case backs. The inner back cover has beautiful decoration together with the Patent Longines logo.

The case is in beautiful condition, and the back of the watch has a shield with the inscription, ‘J F Sch, 9 April 1833-1883’.

The glass lens is in lovely condition.

The dial is in very nice condition, just one small arc shaped hairline to the edge but not very noticeable to the naked eye. Pin-set hands.

The watch comes in a new presentation box.

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All of our watches are checked over before listing, and are also checked for accuracy which is usually within around +/- two to three minutes over 24 hours (unless otherwise stated), which is considered respectable for a vintage watch.

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