I picked up this mov't for 10 bucks in Pasadena afew years ago. It was in parts in a plastic box and, obviously missing parts, dial, case case etc.. The inscription was what intrigued me enough to buy it.

The inscription states" The Seconds Timekeeper/ Devised by Aug. Jeannot/for the American Exposition 1853". After putting it together I couldn't find anything that seemed too odd. It is a basic lever watch with an odd shaped lever.The plate form and layout is sort of unique but, really, isthere something I'm missing. Does anyone know about an 1853 Exhibition?

Thanks for any help or comments.
-Cort

Front of the mov't.

Jeannot's second beating watch used a geared balance to achieve a slow beat and a seconds beating sweep seconds hand. There are older versons of this device using virgule escapements. Jeaunnot was presumably a Swiss maker transplated to America. The watch you show does not seem to have any of these features, and I have no idea what the 1853 exhibit was. It could have been one of many local "mechanics' fairs" that were conducted in major cities.

MIke

Here's a brief cut and paste from Wikipedia:

Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations was a World's Fair held in 1853 in New York City,

It was held two years after the 1851 Great Exposition in London, The fair also included a glass and iron exhibition modeled after the London Crystal Palace. Walt Whitman wrote a poem about it, so it was a big deal!
This is where Elisha Otis demonstrated his safety device for elevators. The device prevemted an elevator from plunging to the bottom of the shaft if the cables broke.

Good find. This descirption of the 1853 exhibiton tripped a faint memory of a New York Crystal Palace, that eventually burned. But I had never heard of the exhhibition that created it. Sure enough, Googling the crystal palace brought the following link.

http://www.lib.umd.edu/ARCH/honr219f/1853nyci.html

So, the descriptions converge, except that the watch does not seem to represent the device it describes.

Mike

Mike, John, Thank you for the help.You guys are good!

I will try to determine if Jeannot actually made it to the U.S.. Maybe his son was the Jeannot of watch case fame?
-Cort

Cort,
I found Aug Jeannot on a passenger list from Germany to New York in 1864. age 29, and there were many references to Aug Jeannot in Canada. I don't have the world genealogy, only the US, so that's about it. He may very well have been in Canada, because of all the information about that name in the list. (That I can't read)

May help.

There is a lot of interest on the net about any item, any year, in a Exhabition, and they sell very well. They are also wanted for collection as a Fair Item.

There are few items for the 1853 Exhabition and are of great interest to many. (Just what I have read)

Sheila,
Nice to hear from you! I know precious little about this mov't but, perhaps, a bit more now than when I picked it up. I haven't had the chance to check if there are any genealogical references I could follow. I have ventured into that field before and know enough to understand that you really have to keep your thinking cap on. Perhaps when the folks in Salt Lake City are done, our ancestries and DNA will all be completely mapped out. This will be a real boon to watch research.

In truth, I am not too hopeful about finding August Jeannot for the reason you mentioned, i.e.- he's likely not American. One can search the databases of the geneological sites for free to an extent. It isn't in my budget to pay to subscribe for better access. The records of his presence n the U.S. could, possibly, be found in directory info, newspaper search etc..

I did appreciate hearing that the Expo market is active. There is a professor of the history of American Expositions I know (yeah, he's quirky)who collects this stuff like he's competing with the Smithsonian. I haven't gotten the opportunity to put this watch to him but, this may be a case where the Expo crowd might be more interested than the watch folks.

I'm glad that you found this movement interesting. I sure did.
-Cort

Cort,
I'm glad, your glad! lolol

One other thing, I wouldn't be too quick to part with it just yet. Sometimes we find all kinds of things out about watchmakers or Jewelers as soon as we part with something.

I like the watch, and I think it's a great piece of history, after all, who else has a watch made for the 1853 Exhabition? No one I know.

I only subscribe to the genealogy databases because of Russell, he's the genealogy buff around here, and I sure can't complain when I get to purchase my watches with no arguments from him now can I?

Anyway, I think he's going to upgrade soon, and when he does, I can check all those Caanadian names for you.

It is a nice watch, and the information on the movement is a super plus for this one.

Congratulations!

"..after all,who else has a watch made for the 1853 Exposition? No one I know."

Sheila, That's it in a nutshell!

So I get a junk mov't that needs repairs, a dial and a case but, it has this cool engraving alluding to a former moment of grandeur; what do I do? I post it here of course.
-Cort

Cort,
You can not only post it here, I bet you will eventually find out more about this item, and YOU will be the one that owns it! maybe even the only one too!

I have a movement that I have search for a long time, and they are simply NOT out there, but it turned out to be from a very well known company still in business!!!

The only reason I purchased it was because it was a "different" kind of movement, and because it had a Trademark on the movement. That movement turned out to be a E HEUER, and there are few really old pocket watches with this Trademark on it, actually, I have never seen another one in over 4 years. The company, Tag Heuer is a well known company and there is a huge interest in them today, mostly the new ones, but the vintage models are growing in interest, and no one can find any, other than the timers!!!!!!!!!!!

When I find an unusual movement that just "picks" at my thinking, I buy it, and so far that has been a really good thing for me.

I may not know anything about a watch that I own now, but I have found that eventually I will know about it, and then not only will I have one of the only ones, we will then be able to document the watch, and connect it to the Horology world at large. What a hoot!!!!

Enjoy your "Parts" watch, it may be on it's way to becoming a watch that everyone would love to see and own. Bet Ya!

I know this is a really old post, but boy did I ever find this guy.

He was a watch case maker, then a Jeweler at 21 Maiden Lane in NY, and he came from Switzerland.

I have much more on him if you want it, and have copies too, so I can send them if you want them.

Looking around here and found this and took another look, and he's everywhere on Ancestry now.
Let me know.