A wild one… Longines “Coronation” 18.95M

[J_pilot]

HamDoctor

I feel the same about this - synthetic rubies were invented a bit earlier than synthetic sapphires, and were somewhat cheaper to make in the beginning... However, I don't know if this is still true, and even if so, the effect can't be that large, or can it? The hardness of the material is the same with ruby or sapphire. And sapphire just looks great together with rhodium-plated bridges.

I'm still researching this, but from what I found so far, it may well have been Ulysse Nardin that started using sapphire for pocket watches, in the mid-1920s. This was very popular in Japan (and copied by Seikosha, who were at that time the biggest importer of Swiss watches into Japan, and the largest manufacturer of pocket watches there).

... which leads us back to your "Coronation" Longines, because this one uses a very similar bridge layout to the UN pocket watches I mentioned above - except that yours has a split barrel bridge, which differentiates it from the 17.89M as well.

Sorry for the detour into sapphires, I didn't mean to distract from your amazing watch. It's easily one of the most impressive pocket watches I have seen on the net so far.

No apologies necessary - this is exactly why I posted it here! A very interesting bit of history there. Coincidentally, I saw a photo of the new Credor Kodo constant force tourbillon this morning on IG, and the sapphire jewelling immediately jumped out to me - could well be a bit of an homage to much humbler roots!

 

[HamDoctor]

J_pilot

No apologies necessary - this is exactly why I posted it here! A very interesting bit of history there. Coincidentally, I saw a photo of the new Credor Kodo constant force tourbillon this morning on IG, and the sapphire jewelling immediately jumped out to me - could well be a bit of an homage to much humbler roots!

Yes, the new Kodo "Daybreak" that they presented at Watches and Wonders this year reminded me of the "sapphire connection", as well. I'm pretty certain there is a link there, even though the "jewelled-with-sapphires fashion" predates the founding of Grand Seiko by at least three decades.

By the way, those roots were anything but humble ;-) ... The high-end pocket watches that Seikosha made then (so-called "Nardin type", with a very similar bridge layout to yours) were used as gifts by the Japanese Emperor for highly honored graduates from military academies at the time. From what I have been reading, these watches were comparable - and sometimes even better - than the Swiss "originals". In a way, this story is a prequel to the late 1960s, when (Grand) Seiko were trying to prove that they were on par to the Swiss watch industry, and eventually succeeded in it.

 

[J_pilot]

HamDoctor

Yes, the new Kodo "Daybreak" that they presented at Watches and Wonders this year reminded me of the "sapphire connection", as well. I'm pretty certain there is a link there, even though the "jewelled-with-sapphires fashion" predates the founding of Grand Seiko by at least three decades.

By the way, those roots were anything but humble ;-) ... The high-end pocket watches that Seikosha made then (so-called "Nardin type", with a very similar bridge layout to yours) were used as gifts by the Japanese Emperor for highly honored graduates from military academies at the time. From what I have been reading, these watches were comparable - and sometimes even better - than the Swiss "originals". In a way, this story is a prequel to the late 1960s, when (Grand) Seiko were trying to prove that they were on par to the Swiss watch industry, and eventually succeeded in it.

Point well taken! I’ve been lucky enough to have handled one of the Emporer-gifted Seikosha pocket watches, and it was certainly very finely crafted. I only use humble relative to the Seiko group’s current output, in terms of business scale.

 

[CBM1590]

Beauty of a watch! Well done!

 

[DirtyDozen12]

Really neat watch!

I agree that the dial looks like a solid silver "indelible" dial, with enameled features. The two-tone finish with applied hour markers is very nice. A fabulous case, as well. And, of course, a funky movement with the extensive gold-plating and clear jewels. I recall seeing a wristwatch and advert before, but not a pocket watch like yours.

 

[J_pilot]

Thank you @DirtyDozen12! Glad to know I wasn’t too off-base with my lingo .

@Radiumpassion, I did check the weight of the third wheel bridge against a very similar brass equivalent and they were quite close, suggesting that it is plated gold, vs. solid (as expected).

 

[J_pilot]

Update:

Takeshi Maysuyama’s “The Clock King” arrived in the mail and does in fact contain another example of this movement, but with a serial number that is just over 10,000 units apart. This movement is described as being in a pink gold case, which from the photo differs significantly from my example.

The relevant text (roughly translated below) offers little additional historical context, but it is interesting nonetheless and has some helpful descriptions of the jewel settings, some of which he identifies as diamonds, others as colorless sapphires. All credit to Mr. Matsuyama - his book available here: https://a.co/d/fkkWTXc