French chronometer with pivoted detent escapement Circa 1831

Fine brass ship’s chronometer Jean François Henri Motel
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A very fine French ship’s chronometer with original key and original operating instructions, circa 1831. This is probably the best and most original of any surviving Henry Motel marine chronometers. The case is a mahogany box with an inlaid brass shield, slide lid and glass, case key, brass gimbals and bowl. The signed, numbered silvered dial has inlaid radial Roman hours, auxiliary seconds, and blued Breguet hands. And the signed, polished, decorated brass movement has conical steel movement pillars, chain/fusee, pivoted detent escapement according to Berthoud, lateral winding, hack feature, bi metallic chronometer balance with four movable weights and gold and steel screws, adjustable balance spring fitting device with four screws, blued conical balance spring and copper set endstone on balance.
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Dimensions: 160 x 135 x 160 mm
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Signed: Henri Motel, Horloger de la Marine Royale
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Jean-François Henri Motel (1786-1857) was born in Margny-Lès-Compiègne on December 31, 1786, and is considered the best known of Berthoud’s pupils. His father, Louis Nicolas Motel, was a farmer and inn owner. Henri went first to school in Prytanée and then as a boarder to the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Chalons. In 1806, he received the qualification of candidate and was chosen to study watchmaking in Paris at state expense; his tutor was Louis Berthoud, the watchmaker of the fleet. Motel had scarcely completed his apprenticeship with Berthoud when Berthoud died suddenly in September 1813. Berthoud’s widow asked Motel to continue Berthoud’s workshop and train his sons further. In August 1819, Motel married Louise Elisabeth Herbet, and in 1823, he settled in the Rue de l’Abbaye. In 1827, he presented his works for the first time and received a silver medal from the jury for his chronometers and astronomical clocks, as well as the comment …nobody keeps time as precisely as Motel.