Dutch deck chronometer with 56h power reserve Circa 1860

Deck chronometer by Andreas Hohwü
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A rare, high-quality Dutch deck chronometer in a mahogany box with 56-hour power reserve, circa 1860. Finely decorated brass movement, ∅ 70 mm, chain and fusee, a spring detent escapement according to Thomas Earnshaw and large screw compensation balance according to Pennington. Silvered dial with Roman hours, outer minute divisions, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock, power reserve indication at 12 and spade & whip hands. Dial, case and movement with matching numbers, dial signed. Comes with the original, numbered, ratchet key ‘334’.
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Dimensions: 160 x 160 x 175 mm
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Signed: Andr. Hohwü Amsterdam
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Even though Andreas Hohwü was a renowned and successful maker of precision pendulum clocks and chronometers, volume one of Jürgen Ermert’s series of books on precision pendulum clocks dedicates as many as 26 pages to him, his marine chronometers hardly ever appear. The quality of his work is outstanding. His astronomical pendulum clocks were often used in observatories and he produced a considerable number of marine chronometers for which he traditionally used English ebauches. Some of them reside in museums today (one of them in Mannheim), and now and then one of his pieces is presented at an auction.
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Andreas Hohwü was born on July 18, 1803, in Gravenstein (today’s Gråsten), Denmark. He was the son of the watch- and clockmaker Thomas Hohwü. He apprenticed with his father before leaving home for Kessels, Altona. From 1834 to 1839 he worked for Breguet in Paris. From 1840 Hohwü worked as a chronometer maker in Amsterdam and established the Hohwü company there. He became a Dutch citizen in 1869. Hohwü received several honours: he was made Knight of the Orde van de Eikenkroon (Order of the Oak Crown), awarded on May 10, 1849 – at the time, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands were in personal union – Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, awarded on April 13, 1868, No.24 and in 1971, Knight of the Crown of Italy. Hohwü died in Amsterdam on September 28, 1885.