Fine English 18k gold keyless lever with carrousel Circa 1880

Gold lever with 52½ minute carrousel
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A fine English 18 carat gold open faced keyless wind lever pocket watch with 52½ minute carrousel, circa 1880. 3/4 Plate movement, gold screwed compensation balance. White enamel dial with Roman numerals and sunken subsidiary seconds. Plain case. Movement numbered.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Weight: 126 g
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Signed: B. Bonniksen England
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Carrousel watches are a design by the Danish watchmaker B. Bonniksen, who registered the patent in 1892 in England. His intention was to create a compromise between the ‘expensive’ tourbillon and a normal chronometer, he actually achieved better results with his carrousel than some did with tourbillons. In 1899 Richard Lange improved the design and received a protection of utility patent D.R.G.M. 121267 for it. The escapement in a carrousel with auxiliary seconds revolves in 52½ minutes and thus avoids the variation caused by gravity. Lange only ever produced a small number of carrousel watches, most of them in gold cases.