German gold “seconde morte” pocket watch Circa 1898

Gold lever engine turned pocket watch
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A doctor’s extremely rare Glashuette watch with independent jumping seconds mechanism “seconde morte” manufactured in quality 1A, circa 1898.
An 18 carat pink gold open faced pocket watch, enamel dial, decorative hands, 3/4 plate movement, applied “seconde morte”-mechanism, gold screw compensation balance.
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Diameter: 52 mm
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Weight: 112 g
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Signed:  A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte
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Jumping seconds mechanism or “seconde morte”
Lange felt that the readability of the jumping auxiliary seconds was not satisfactory in a pocket watch, so he started following another course. By 1867 he had designed a mechanism which allowed an independent large central seconds hand to jump every second. The hand had a stop device but could not be reset to zero. 1877 his sons filed a patent for a slightly modified version of A. Lange’s mechanism. This seconds mechanism on a 3/4 plate created a precision watch which had the indication system of an astronomical pendulum clock but was portable.
(sold in 1898 for 566 marks)