J. Assmann Glasshutte question

[tero]

Hi can you please help me to find some more information about my watch?
Its J. Assmann Glashutte pocket watch. Got it last week. Looks serviced and almost like new. I mean just the movement.
Its 14k gold, porcelan face.

http://s716.photobucket.com/albums/ww165/terosan/watch/

many thanks for your help

[Hartmut Richter]

Hi can you please help me to find some more information about my watch?
Its J. Assmann Glashutte pocket watch. Got it last week. Looks serviced and almost like new. I mean just the movement.
Its 14k gold, porcelan face.

http://s716.photobucket.com/albums/ww165/terosan/watch/

many thanks for your help

So what do you want to know? And how much do you know already?

Presuming that we are starting from scratch here, this is what I know. Julius Assmann was a pupil of Adolph Lange in Glashütte, Saxony, and once he was qualified, he set up his own company which still remains today and is now Glashütte Original. I would therefore strongly advise you to contact them and send them the serial number on the movement - if their records are as good as e.g. Zenith, they will be able to tell you when it was made.

The movement, strangely enough, is characteristically Swiss, not Glashütte - Glashütte movements have a characteristic 3/4 plate which covers most of the movement, rather than having this plate broken up into several thin bridges. Compare yours to a typical Glashütte movement by A. Lange & Söhne:

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?00&ranfft&0&2uswk&Lange_20

All this almost leads us to suspect that yours is a fake or mariage (movement from one old watch in a case and plate of another by Assmann). Speaking against this theory is the Assmann inscription on the movement. Again, Glashütte Original are likely the ones who can asnwer that most satisfactorily.

Age? Don't really know, but almost certainly pre-WWI. It looks from here as if the movement is key wound but stem set. Key wound movements were most common pre-1890 but the combination seems odd (key wound movements are generally also key set). Or do my eyes deceive me?!

Quick additional info: the movement looks similar to something by Patek Philippe (but not identical - note the different balance cock):

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?00&ranfft&0&2uswk&Patek-Philippe_16H5

I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Assmann got some movements from PP (they gave away their movements slightly more commonly in those days) and stuck them into his watches. Note also the unusual "moustache" lever with extended sides.

Hartmut Richter

[tero]

to Hartmut Richter
thank you for your advise. I will try to contact Glasshutte by email.
All i know about this watch is that is german made, all the numbers match serial number on the case and on movement. I have never seen watch like that before and i got it as a present from my future mother in law.
Atleast she hopes to be ;-)

[Kyle L]

What a funny name! Nice watch btw

[Hartmut Richter]

What a funny name! Nice watch btw

...which only goes to show that you shouldn't translate foreign names directly.

Hartmut Richter

[Janne]

Ass mann - Ace man!
Ace like in card ace.
Not a bad name at all! I vould not mind, not with a last name like mine.....;-)

I agree, nice watch. Clean look.

[John MS]

...which only goes to show that you shouldn't translate foreign names directly.

Hartmut Richter

I agree. The poster should realize that this is an international forum and that most of us live in places other than NYC.

[Roland Ranfft]

Hi tero,

don't worry, in this case Hartmut is not right.

It is most probably an original Assmann movement, because it has all
details of an Assmann bridge movement. Since the movements, completely
made in Glashütte, were pretty expensive, Assman bought rough
movements from top Swiss sources and finished them in his usual quality.
This allowed him to extend his collection to moderately lower prices.

And exactly this policy was published in advertising for these watches:
Reduced price, but not reduced quality or precision.

But don't overestimate the savings. A catalog from 1906 shows the
cheapest watches (silver, open face) with bridge movement for 105 Mark,
and with first quality 3/4-plate movement for 160 Mark.

And this was already kind of price policy - for variants with heavy gold
case the difference was lower.

Regards, Roland Ranfft

[Hartmut Richter]

Many thanks for the technical info, Dr. Ranfft - nice to see that the whole thing is 100% original.

Hartmut Richter