German Marine deck watch in mahogany box Circa 1938

Deck chronometer by Chronometerwerke GmbH
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A German ship’s chronometer with lever escapement, made for the German “Kriegsmarine”, circa 1938.
Mahogany box with screwed on signature shield, screwed on handles, two body and brass gimbals and bowl. Silvered signed and numbered dial with inlaid Arabic numerals, large auxiliary seconds, 24 hour indicator, 32 hour power reserve indicator and gold spade hands. Brass movement, polished, chatoned, with external hand setting device via slide, lever escapement, beryllium bronze lever and escape wheel, “Griesbach” chronometer balance with four weights and two screws, blued helical balance spring and sapphire endstone on balance and escape wheel.
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Dimensions: 180 x 180 x 180 mm
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Signed: Chronometerwerke GmbH, Hamburg
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1905 founded Ferdinand Dencker and some Hamburg shipowner, the Chronometerwerke GmbH, located in the “New Gröninger 22-24” in Hamburg. Manager was initially Dencker until 1929 the Regleur Ernst William Meier, 1929 to 1937 Charles Henry Möller and 1937 to 1942 Friedrich Leutert. From 1908 to 1938 approx. 1000 marine chronometers and ship’s clocks were manufactured in the Hamburg Chronometerwerke, 402 of these high-quality instruments were submitted to the Deutsche Seewarte for the official accuracy test, 32 were awarded prizes in chronometer competitions. At January 1, 1938 Herbert Wempe took over Chronometerwerke GmbH, which was now called Chronometerwerke after his father, Gerhard D. Wempe.

For those of the German Wehrmacht from 1940 required observational and pilot watches used Wempe the rosévergoldete bridge caliber Revue Thommen 31. In 1942, the Gerhard D. Wempe Chronometerwerke began manufacturing the patented standard chronometers. After the end of the Second World War, production continued under fiduciary management until 1949.