Austrian automatic winding square silver pocket watch Circa 1900

Automatic winding pedometer watch by August von Loehr
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An Austrian gentleman’s decorative pocket watch in a niello-silver case with automatic winding by oscillating weight pedometer system, circa 1900.
Original mahogany presentation box with mother-of-pearl appliques. Silver case with niello-silver decoration; depiction of an angel, engraved silver dome, and gold crown. Signed enamel dial with radial Roman hours, auxiliary seconds, power reserve indicator, and Louis XV hands. Nickel-plated, stripe-decorated square movement, pedometer system with oscillating weight, and gold screw compensation balance.
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Diameter: 48 mm
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Dimensions: 48 x 48 mm
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Weight: 126 g
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Signed: Loehr Patent
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August Ritter von Löhr, Viennese engineer
August Ritter von Löhr was born in Venice on May 5, 1847. In 1878, he registered an English patent for a pocket watch movement with automatic winding via a pendulum flywheel (pedometer principle, step counter principle).

Von Löhr had pocket watches made with this movement in his own workshop (Self winding Watch Co.) in London. Two housing designs were used: round and square. The latter was made by Hahn Frères & Cie. Made in Landeron (a Swiss watch company founded in 1875).

Von Löhr’s pocket watch was the only automatic watch of its kind that achieved a certain level of popularity. After all, around 4,000 pieces of the round version were manufactured and sold. Löhr had the elevator and the housing bracket protected by the following patents in Germany and England: DE 1903, DE 3939, DE 14939, GB 1473 (1880), GB 4781 (1880).

– 1884 produced Hahn Fréres & Cie. a series of Löhr watches

– In 1924, the production of the raw material from the company Hahn Fréres & Cie. outsourced and continued under the name of the place where it was founded, Landeron.

– In 1925 Landeron merged with the company  Fontainemelon (FHF = Fabrique d’Horlogerie de Fontainemelon)

– 1927 Concentration of further shell manufacturers to a holding company, the Ébauches SA These included FHF, ETA, AS, Unitas, Peseux, Valjoux, etc.

August Ritter von Löhr died on November 21, 1917 in Vienna.