German rare tourbillon with retrograde thermometer Circa 1982

Gold open faced pocket watch by Thomas Engel
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An extremely rare, almost as new German 18 Carat gold gentleman’s tourbillon pocket watch with power reserve indicator and retrograde thermometer, circa 1982. This Montre Sousciption de A.L. Breguet was sold to M. Edgar Abraham Mannheimer.
Glazed 1/2 plate movement, rhodium plated, numbered and signed, with Geneva Striping decoration, screwed gold chatons, finest mirror polished steel tourbillon cage and Guillaume screwed compensation balance.
Signed silver engine turned dial with inlaid radial Roman hours, auxiliary seconds between 6 and 7 o’clock, aperture for power reserve at 12 o’clock and blued Breguet hands. Engine turned case with screwed back, winding by turning the pendant and casemaker punch mark TE for Thomas Engel. Comes with the original wooden box, original certificate No. 24, C.O.S.C. rating certificate and Bulletin de Marche, La Chaux-de-Fonds.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 178 g
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Signed: Thomas Engel
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Professor Thomas Engel found worldwide fame for his research in the production of polymers. In 1966 he developed a process where he used cross linking extrusions for the production of homogeneously cross linked polyethylene pipes. This invention, which was based on the reaction of plastics at pressures of 15’000 to 150’000 psi and temperatures of approximately 300° in presence of a peroxide catalyst (a cross linking agent), was of great importance for the future of plastics technology because it allowed the production of a high molecular weight product with improved heat and chemical resistance, it is still in use today, 30 years later. Engel received numerous prizes and honours for his work, amongst them was the “Rudolf-Diesel Prize” he was awarded in 1972 along with Dr. Wernher von Braun, the “father of rocket science”.