brass cased fully glazed wall regulator with invar pendulum by Brunzli (c. 1910 France)

OS 16. An early 20th century month duration brass cased wall regulator by Henri Rene Bunzli who co-founded the company called “The French Manufacturer of Precision Instruments” in 1898 and became eminent in the field of cine-photography and projector manufacture.

The engraved and silvered dial, some 8" (20.3cms) in diameter, has roman numerals for the hours and small arabics outside for the minutes. The hands, spade shaped for the hours and pointed for the minutes, are gilded whilst the seconds hand in the upper half of the dial is of blued steel. It is signed Rene Bunzli Paris.

The wire brushed and gilded movement plates are stepped in on either side to the top and there is a large cut-out in the backplate to give access to the escapement so as to be able to adjust the pallets or even take out the escape wheel which is beautifully executed and has very fine teeth. Its design is highly unusual. There is a delicate raised strengthening ring around the base of the escape wheel teeth. The wheel is pierced out in a most unusual manner, employing five large and five small rings. All the other wheels in the train have five crossings.

Four tapering pillars, with shallow shoulders and burnished steel screws to the front and back, are used to hold the plates together. At the top of the movement is an L shaped bracket, with a large cut out to the centre, which extends down behind the backplate . Delicately screwed to this are chatons which carry the very fine pivots for the escape wheel and pallet arbors.

Two pierced out tapering arms extend out to one side of the movement to carry the grooved roller for the weight line and the weight hook. The movement is held into the case by two substantial knurled brass and steel bolts.

The invar pendulum is made to the very highest standards. The rod has a sliding tray fixed to it onto which small weights may be added or removed for fine regulation without stopping the clock. The turned metal bob is beautifully executed. To the bottom is a substantial shaped brass graduated ring which may be rotated to adjust the timekeeping. Below is a locking nut and pointer which may be read off on a silvered scale fixed to the backboard. The crutch pin rests on one side of the pendulum rod and is controlled on the other side by an adjustable sprung brass strip.

Overall length of case 53.5" (136 cms).
Width 14.5". (37 cms.)

Henri Rene Bunzli, (1870 to1961.) was born in Reims. From 1885 to 1888 he was a student at the school of watchmaking in Paris where he distinguished himself, winning first prizes in The physical Sciences; Engineering drawing, The theory of watch-making and finishing and Crown-wheel and cylinder escapements.

Bunzi was of an inventive form of mind and in 1896 filed a patent, in conjunction with his friend Continsouza, who also filed a a patent that year, for “ A new device for obtaining and screening animated photography. This was the use of “The maltese Cross”, which was used in clocks and watches for “stop-work”, to drive the film and in four branch form came to be used in the vast majority of projectors world-wide.

In 1900 Bunzli produced four very short ( about 10 second) 3D films, probably the first to be seen.

Some years later Bunzli and Constinsouza founded “The French Manufacturer of Precision Instruments”. In 1914 a new company was formed known as “ The construction Company of Precision Instruments”.

A clock of considerable similarity was sold by Breguet in 1931 to Louis Charles Breguet but it seems unlikely that they would have made it at that period and would have commissioned it elsewhere and indeed it could have been from the company in which Brunzli had an interest. “The French Manufacturer of Precision Instruments” The two pendulums are remarkably similar, the unusual double screwed movement pillars are the same and both are in brass framed fully glazed cases. The Breguet clock was last sold, at Christies, in July 2004, Lot 102. Sale number 6928.

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