Extremely rare expedition chronometer/box chronometer: Heinrich Kessels Altona No. 1291, ca. 1830

287-4219  Extremely rare expedition chronometer/box chronometer: Heinrich Kessels Altona No. 1291, ca. 1830

Original box, ca. 11.5 x 11.5 x 6.5 cm, mahogany, recess for the original brass box with bayonet lock, spring detent chronometer with typical Kessels chronometer balance and helical hairspring, signed and numbered, silvered dial, Breguet steel hands, very good condition, in working order, probably original Key. Expedition chronometers by Kessels are absolute rarities and are almost never offered for sale. The watchmaker Kessels came from Maastricht and moved to Altona at the beginning of the 19th century, where he had a workshop and home in Kleine Mühlenstraße. When the astronomer Schumacher moved to Altona in 1821, opened the Altona Observatory and published the Astronomische Nachrichten, close ties with Kessels soon developed. This was likely also because the linguistically gifted Schumacher was able to assist Kessels, who still spoke French (source: https://www.cortrie.de/go/1DG). Kessels, who was born on 15 May 1781 in Maastricht, Holland, and died of cholera on 15 July 1849 in Claverhem near Bristol, was one of the most significant chronometer makers working in Germany – if not the most famous of the early period. Although Altona was still part of Denmark at the time, it is regarded by Germans as a German city and is therefore also listed in the literature as a German watchmaker. After spending time in London and Copenhagen, he worked in Paris for Abraham Breguet and Winnerl, before settling in Altona, where he set up his own business. He quickly became famous as a chronometer maker for the Danish Navy. In addition to marine chronometers, he also built pocket chronometers and astronomical pendulum clocks. We auctioned the sister clock No. 1313 in 2021 for over €33,000!