French silver rare deck chronometer in sales box Circa 1865

Extremely rare deck chronometer
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An extremely rare deck chronometer in the original sales box, made by Frédéric Rötig ‘Inventeur‘ in le Havre, France, circa 1865. The numbered case of this watch was crafted from silver and features a coined band, the enamel dial features an outer track with Arabic 1/5^th minutes and seconds divisions and a 0-300 scale, Roman hour numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o’clock and gold hands. The movement is fitted according to the inventor’s patent of 1869 with a Rötig chronometer escapement, a lever escapement and a diamond end stone.
The dial is signed.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Weight: 140 g
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Signed: F. Rötig Havre Inventeur
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Rötig

Frédéric Rötig (1829–1905) was a prominent French master watchmaker and chronometer maker who established a prestigious lineage of horologists in Le Havre during the 19^th century. Originally from a renowned family of German clockmakers in Rhineland-Palatinate, he moved to France during the Second Empire to expand the family’s horological trade.

Rötig developed this special caliber for a chronograph that was patented in 1869. Only a few examples are known. Most of them have a slide to stop the center seconds. This is missing on the early example presented here, which probably is a prototype.

The workshop in Le Havre, which operated under names like “F. Rötig” and “Rötig-Mairet,” ceased production in the early to mid 20^th century. By the time of Frédéric Rötig’s death in 1905, the industry was shifting toward industrial production, which eventually phased out the bespoke chronometer workshops of that era.