Rare South German silver open faced cylinder watch Circa 1810

Silver key wind pocket watch
–
A rare South German silver open faced key wind pocket watch made by Johann Georg Auch in Öhringen, circa 1810. The full plate movement with chain and fusee, a side balance stop lever for precise setting of the watch, cylinder escapement, five arm brass balance, and pierced and engraved, large, central balance bridge with a regulating scale. White enamel regulator dial featuring an eccentric Roman hour chapter in the lower part with outer minute divisions and Arabic quarter hour numerals, a further outermost unusual 108 division seconds scale. The plain case with maker’s mark CFA. Dial signed, case numbered.
–
Diameter: 55 mm
–
Weight: 94 g
–
Signed: Auch in Aehringen
–
The clock is proven to have been made by Johann Georg Auch (1766-1838), the brother of the famous Hahn student Johann Jacob Auch (1765-1842). Like the present watch, it has typical characteristics of Hahn’s pocket watches. The movement is made of gilt brass and has a very large balance wheel, a brass cylinder wheel and a cylinder escapement with a rounded lifting surface of the cylinder wheel teeth. The balance bridge is elaborately crafted and decorated with ornaments. The watch has a stop function for the balance wheel, which can be precisely adjusted using a lever on the side. The seconds scale on the dial is unusual in increments of 108.
–
Little is known about Johann Georg Auch’s work for Philipp Matthäus Hahn. Johann Georg Auch called himself a small watchmaker and, after working for Hahn, worked for his brother Johann Jacob in Ludwigsburg. In 1794, he was based in Ludwigsburg as a mechanic and small watchmaker. Around 1800, Johann Georg moved to Öhringen, where he worked as a court mechanic for the princes of Hohenlohe-Oehringen. Johann Georg Auch died in Öhringen in 1838.