Russian exceptionally large silver lever calendar watch Circa 1915

Silver anker chronometer
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An exceptionally large and, in this size, rare anker chronometer with calendar made by Bernhard Altschwager in St. Petersburg, Russia, circa 1915. The silver open faced case has an engine turned back with a central blank cartouche. The white enamel dial has Roman hour numerals, an outer minute track, Arabic five minutes, auxiliary seconds at six o’clock, subsidiary dials for the date at two o’clock, for the days of the week in Russian at ten o’clock and blued steel hands. The, probably, two day movement has an anker chronometer escapement with a huge 21 mm chronometer balance.
Dial and dust cover signed
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Diameter: 76 mm
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Weight: 324 g
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Signed: B. Altschwager S^T Petersburg
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Bernhard Altschwager
Bernhard Friedrich Altschwager (1862-1931) was a German-Russian engineer and inventor who lived in St. Petersburg during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. He owned a watch shop in St. Petersburg. His son Theodor Kröger (actually Bernhard Altschwager) did an apprenticeship as a watchmaker in Neuchâtel in 1913 and then returned to Russia, where he became a prisoner of war. Kröger became a very successful writer and described his experiences during the war. In his works, he criticized the negative side effects of the Russian Revolution from the point of view of a German citizen of the world.