superbe je ne sais pas, intéressante surement

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écrit par Clavi le 12 décembre 2006 20:27:27:

en réponse à: Superbe montre ! écrit par foversta le 12 décembre 2006 18:31:54:

Je ne sais pas si cette montre peut etre qualifiée de 'superbe', car elle ne correspond plus vraiment au gout du jour, quoi que son boitier soit de dimensions assez modernes

En revanche c'est vrai qu'elle est particulierement intéressante pour qui s'intéresse un peu à l'évolution des technologies horlogeres, puisqu'il s'agit d'une version peu courante du remontage automatique par translation et non par rotation.

Ce mouvement de remontage automatique par translation a été adapté (enfin il y a eu une tentative avortée) par TAG dans son concept V4


Je laisserai la parole à un vendeur Anglais qui a fait une description hagiographique de cette montre et de son fonctionnement

(désolé, pour anglophiles only...)


The Rolls is one of a handful of early patented self-winding wristwatches that appeared on the market around 1930, each of these having its own unique approach to this function.
Today, in retrospect, these are some of the most characterful wristwatches ever made and, as they were a commercial failure and relatively small quantities were produced, some of the most difficult for the serious modern-day collector to find, especially in working condition.
The Harwood self-wound in an entirely different way to the Rolls, but both were pioneering models that were born in the same era, and a familiarity with one type will prove worthwhile in setting a context for the other.

In order to wind the mainspring in any automatic watch, a weight moves under gravity, being returned to the top of its extent of travel to start the cycle again after motion of the wearer’s wrist.
The Harwood movement employed a weight pivoted in the centre of the movement that rocked forward and backward, winding in one direction and returning on a ratchet in the other.
The Rolls is even more ingenious, because here the movement itself acts as the weight, sliding backwards and forwards inside the case on ball bearings, these fitting into grooved runners that are integral to a steel channel insert inside the housing.
The range of travel allowed on these runners is approximately 3mm, with a lever and ratchet system winding the mainspring each time the rolling movement passes it.
An aperture in the front of the case reveals the dial as per usual, but unlike a conventional watch, on the Rolls, the dial moves up and down the length of the case with the movement.

Unlike John Harwood’s model, the Rolls adopted a belt and braces approach, offering the facility for manual as well as automatic winding. When it is decided to manually wound the movement, the top of the case is flipped up on a hinge, at which point a serrated wheel is found adjacent to the 2 o’clock position.
When this is turned clockwise, tension is added to the mainspring. When this serrated wheel is gently depressed, a gear which it carries engages with the minute wheel and the hands can be set.

This design was the brainchild of the jeweller, watchmaker and inventor Leon Hatot, born in 1883 in Chatillon sur Seine and a man who was so highly regarded for his mechanical ingenuity that he had manufactured movements for several of the top Parisian firms Cartier, Van Cleef and Mauboussin.
Not content only to innovate mechanical movements, he pioneered electric timekeeping for the luxury market with a range of jewelled art deco mystery clocks sold under the ATO brand, a name that, it will be noted, is signed on the watch dial here at its lower edge.
Later, Hatot would purchase the famous Paris based high-society clock and jewellery business of Paul Garnier before passing away in 1953.

To say that this movement is interesting would be a gross understatement. The mechanism is held in a C shaped steel channel, this lifting out with it when the former is removed from the case for servicing or inspection. Running on its ball bearing pivots, the movement is free to travel up and down this channel section, connecting with a pivot that remains fixed on the channel side.

Looking at this movement under high magnification now, I can honestly say without any hint of exaggeration that its condition is effectively perfect. I am genuinely amazed that this mechanism could survive in this gleaming, almost mint, order, and marvel at the care with which it has obviously been treated all its life. These movements were manufactured for Hatot by Blancpain, one of Switzerland’s oldest and most highly respect houses, and the quality on display here is breathtaking.

Examining the unit more closely, other ingenious aspects of its design become clear. The movement is made of nickel silver, and on its back is an additional thick bridge plate which perplexed me at first, the reason for its presence not being obvious until it dawned on me that its function is purely to add mass to the movement in order to assist it in running up and down its rails. Hidden beneath this plate are one set of buffer springs, these having the function of gently arresting the movement as is reaches its extreme of travel on its rails and softly bouncing back in the opposite direction.
The buffer spring at the other end is below the barrel bridge, this also covering the train and escape wheel cocks, the pallets and the oscillating balance.
This plate carries the signature “Hatot’s Patents, Pending in All Countries, Fifteen Jewels, Three 3 Adjs, Swiss Made”.
This reference to three positional adjustments is telling of the quality to which these movements were built.
Very few mechanisms from the 1920s and early 30s were regulated for accuracy in multiple positions, and there is no doubt whatsoever that the workmanship in this one is absolutely top drawer.


As one would expect for such a unique creation, there is a vast amount of printed material on the Rolls, and almost every reference book that aims to chart the significant landmark steps that occurred in the evolution of the early wristwatch gives some attention to this model.

Gisbert Brunner’s book “Wristwatches” ( ISBN 3-8290-0660-8) mentions these early automatic models collectively on page 14, with the charming summary that they would “fill a museum of curios. ( The desire for self-winding) gave rise to a wide variety of devices, some highly peculiar, that are now regarded as rare collectors’ items, among these Harwood’s “Autorist” ( 1931) and the “Rolls” by Leon Hatot ( 1930/31)”.

The superb “Wristwatches, History of a Century’s Development” by Helmut Kahlert ( ISBN 0-7643-0861-0 ) tell us that the 1930 Rolls will be of “interest to the collector”, but, in common with “examples of all the early automatics, will be extremely hard to find”.

“Collectible Wristwatches” by Rene Pannier devoted a full colour page to the Rolls (p.248). Interestingly, Pannier makes the comment that “the Rolls watch borrowed its name from the famous British luxury car, the Rolls Royce”. This is particular clever as, of course, the word could equally refer to the rolling motion of the movement as it travels up and down the case.

The Horological Journal of July 2002, published by the British Horological Institute, included a well researched feature on the Rolls.
This has a technical bias and may not be easily digestible for the casual reader, but for the enthusiast wishing for an in depth analysis of the movement, will prove worthwhile. There is even more information given on the Rolls and its inventor in the French journal “Horologerie Ancienne “ ( issue 12/2/1982), but I have not been able to locate a copy for my own library.

Probably the most impressive physical wristwatch auction of all time, Antiquorum’s “100 Years of Wristwatches”, held on the 19th November 2002 at the Hotel des Bergues, Geneva, included two Rolls wristwatches ( lots 63 and 64), one in silver and the other in 9 karat gold, describing them as being “important and interesting”. Fascinatingly, while one is signed “Rolls, ATO” on its dial as here, the other carries the wording “Hatot” and does not mention any other name besides that of its inventor.

The British Museum have a 9 karat gold Rolls on display ( exhibit reference 1982, 2-2-2) in their horological department, this including examples of the key landmark models that have led to the modern self-winding wristwatch as we know it today.

Originally, six thousand Rolls watches were produced between 1930 and 1932, but almost all have failed to survive, and in twenty years of serious collecting, I have only ever encountered perhaps three or four examples.


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