American 18 Carat gold with double wheel escapement Circa 1869

Gold hunting cased lever pocket watch 
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A very fine and extremely rare American, 18 Carat gold, hunting cased, keyless pocket watch, circa 1869. Fasoldt Patent Double Wheel with a detachable winding crown with hand setting key. Chronometer by Charles Fasoldt, Albany, N.Y., Made for Chas. E. Wilbour, New York City. The case made by Humbert, (master mark), No. XIX,  engine turned covers, the interior of the front cover with dedication, reeded band. Hinged gold rimmed glazed cuvette. White enamel dial, narrow radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel Breguet hands.
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A nickel movement, parallel bridge calibre, Geneva striping decoration, 15 jewels, Fasoldt patented unidirectional double gold wheel lever-chronometer escapement with locking on the large wheel and impulse from the smaller one, large single roller, cut-bimetallic compensation balance, gilded in typical Fasoldt manner, large steel Breguet balance spring controlled by Fasoldt patented gold micrometric regulator, patented stem winding mechanism with detachable key for hand setting, locking slide for the winding crown on the band.
Dial and movement signed. The movement also engraved Pat. Feb. 1. 1859, Apr 5, 1864 & March 7. 1865. Case punched “E.H”. Property of an Italian Gentleman.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Signed: Charles Fasoldt  Albany, N.Y
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Two American watchmakers of the second half of the 19th century stand out among all others: Albert Potter (see lot 339) and Charles Fasoldt. The latter, a very colourful individual, was born in Germany in 1818, received a death sentence for taking part in the 1848 Revolution, escaped from prison and sailed to the United States. He began making watches in Rome, New York and subsequently moved to Albany, where he established an impressive enterprise for the making of clocks, micrometric gratings, microscopes and, of course, his famous watches. He sold them for between $150 and $300 each, which was expensive at the time. They were made according to his very individual design. Almost all of them employed his patented chronometer lever escapement.
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The escapement in the present watch (patented on Feb 1, 1859) is remarkably reliable. It requires no oil and has a very strong draw on both locking pallets. Fasoldt performed an interesting and picturesque experiment demonstrating the reliability of his escapement, he tied his watch, along with other maker’s watches, to the driving rod of the Empire Express locomotive. After having made the entire trip from Albany to New York and back, his watch registered only a few minutes’ difference. The other makers’ watches stopped within the first few minutes of the trip. The other unusual feature of this watch is the winding and hand setting. The winding is done in the usual way by winding the crown clockwise (the crown cannot be turned anti clockwise). For the hand setting, the entire crown is released via a slide on the band and a winding square at the end of the stem is then used manually to set the hands from the back of the movement. This is a variation of the Breguet key system but without ratchet.