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VIRTUAL POCKET WATCH MUSEUM DAY 4, a cal 55

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    Moderator
    24 Mar 2020, 5:36 p.m.
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    As some of you know, I am collecting pocketwatches, IWC only.

    Far from saying that my collection is a museum collection but I am proud to
    have found some nice and rare pieces over time.

    Some of the pocketwatches are common, easy to find on the market, sometimes in
    better condition than mine, but some I have are gems.

    So in these crazy times, as the museum in Schaffhausen is closed, why not open
    one here on the forum.

    As long as the museum is closed, I will post here daily a pocketwatch from my
    collection.

    I hope I don't run out of pieces before the virus is beaten. Fingers crossed
    for all of us.

    I will post them in a random order, with some comments, feel free to join.

    Keep safe all.

    DAY 4 :

    Today I present a silver pocket watch, looks a simple one, Sold on 21/5/1889
    to Vierling in Gorlitz.

    Why did I buy this one ? Because it is one with a rare cal 55.

    More info I found in the forum was this by Adrian Van der Meijden :

    Caliber 55 was only made in 18 lignes, making it a relatively small pocket
    watch in diameter. The typical difference with cal. 52/53 is the lacking of a
    separate bridge (cock) that fixes the escape wheel. The escape wheel is fixed
    in the three quarter plate, by enlarging the plate. One can see the escape
    wheel just below the IWC stamp on the movement....

    .....For reasons we will probably never know, IWC decided to stop the
    production of cal. 55 already in 1895. Nevertheless, for pocket watch freaks,
    cal 55 is one of the interesting historical developments....

    And much more to be found in this old post here

    Typical on the early cal 55 is the IWC stamp on the caliber, as shown in one
    of my pictures.

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    Master
    24 Mar 2020, 6:08 p.m.
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    Indeed Tonny, there are not that many Cal. 55 out there and it took me some
    time to add a watch with this movement to my collection.

    The one I show here today, to compliment your fine example is a Cal. 55 Lep.
    "Schaffhausen", 18 Lignes and it was sold to famous Mr. Didisheim of La
    Chaux-de-Fonds on the 20th of March 1898.

    It is cased in Schaffhausen in an ornate mixed metals case of Steel (Gun
    Metal) and Brass.

    Ralph Ehrismann (Watch77 on the Forum here) enlightend me years back to a
    rather unique aspect of these Cal.55 when, I had found a watch with a movement
    in it, that I could not identify. From the serial number of the movement, and
    looking this up in the books, I was able to see it was meant to be a Cal. 55.
    However, something was definately different to the other Cal. 55 I had seen.

    Compare the main bridge plate of Tonny's Cal.55 here below on the left with
    that of mine paying attention to the red circled area of the plate.

    Ralph wrote me as follows:

    Yes this is a c.55 (the latest, 1894 version).

    - The main Bridge has not a cut away like the early version (shown in the
    first picture just below)
    - The winding wheels have just 1 small screw
    - The ancre is under a symmetrical bridge (like for the c.52 1894 version)

    When exactly the cutaway was induced is unclear, I never checked it exactly
    but somewhere between serial numbers #45701 and #78500.
    I think it was around 1891 or 1892.

    This is as Tonny said a Rare Bird.

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    Master
    24 Mar 2020, 6:08 p.m.
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    Here is my example of a rather plain Silver cased Cal. 55. Note, it left the
    factory (as confirmed in the archives) with an unbranded dial..

    This watch is
    younger than Tonny's and left the manufactury on the 20th February 1896 being
    sold to the Brothers Humel is Strassburg, France.

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    Thread title has been changed from VIRTUAL POCKET WATCH MUSEUM DAY 4.