Datei:Etienne Tavernier Schlüsseluhr (1820) (1).jpg

A very rare early 19th Century French gold double sided calendar key. White enamel dials with black and gilt indications and signature, blue steel hands. On one side the days of the week, date and age of the moon are shown. The other dial indicates the month and corresponding number of days in a small subsidiary. The two centrally placed hands indicate the times of sunrise and sunset in Roman numerals. The indications are advanced by depressing a small lever which protrudes from the edge of the case after the watch has been wound, being reset by a shaft in the pipe of the key. Signed Etne Tavernier Circa 1820 Diameter 26 mm.

Etienne Tavernier invented this type of watch key while working in the rue de Bussy in Paris. A reproduction of the original instructions supplied by Tavernier for such astronomical keys is published by Mathieu Planchon in "Mus‚e r‚trospectif de la Classe 96, Horlogerie … l'Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900 … Paris", p. 141, pl. CXVIII bis. This key differs from the most by the sunset and sunrise indications, which are found very rarely.

Reproduced by kind permission of Pieces of Time - E-Mail: [email protected]

Lizenz

Please note that all content, text and images on this site are the copyright of Pieces of Time. However you may use any of the images or text (unless it displays a copyright notice of another individual or company ) with the following restrictions:

• Pieces of Time is acknowledged in a form similar to "reproduced by kind permission of Pieces of Time".

• In the case of a commercial venture our address and URL must also be included in an appropriate place.

• If you are publishing on the Internet please feel free to include a link(s) to any text page on our site without the need to include an acknowledement.
• We would of course be grateful if you would inform us that you have used our material but this is not a requirement. If you are considering publishing a traditional paper document we may be able to supply images of resolution suitable for that medium.