Early Atmos Watch from Jaeger LeCoultre

Dimensions: H x W x D: 23.5 x 21 x 16.5 cm

Description:
Atmos II in matt brushed gold-plated case with polished stands. Blued screws, regulating screw on the back, rotating pendulum with fine vertical stripes divided into 8 segments.
Dial ring with horizontal 3 and horizontal 9.

The serial number of this early Atmos clock is not yet engraved on the top, as on today's models, but on the front of the movement plate.
Serial number: 19033
Year of manufacture: 1949

Unlike the later Atmos models, the rate of the early clocks was still adjusted by a regulating screw from the back above the pressure box. Because the regulating screw was often damaged when the glass cover was lifted off, it was placed in front of the pressure box in the early 1950s. After a few years, this position was also considered impractical and the regulation was then carried out by means of a slide between the movement and the pressure box. It is still like this today.

Condition:
The watch is freshly overhauled and runs absolutely reliable and accurate.
Case with minimal signs of use, light "cleaning abrasion" on corners and edges. The photos are not "embellished", case condition is as shown in the photos.

Fun Facts:
In 1927, the young engineer Jean-Léon Reutter presented the prototype of the Atmos watch he had developed.
The response in the press was great and so he signed a contract with the Compagnie générale de radiologie, which built and distributed the "Atmos I" under Reutter's direction from 1930.
Since there were always problems with the watches, the movements were manufactured by Le Coultre et Cie inSwitzerland from 1933 andin 1935 the production rights of the Atmos watch were transferred to Ets. Ed. Jaeger.
They concentrated on developing a simpler and more robust engine and from 1938 the era of the Atmos by Jaeger-LeCoultre began.

The "watch that lives on air" uses the "breathing movements" of a gas-filled bellows created by temperature fluctuations to wind the movement.
The movement of the watch is conspicuous by its cylindrical box on the back. Inside, a bellows-shaped expansion chamber contains chloroethyl, a gas that expands particularly strongly between 10 °C and 27 °C. The movement is then wound up.
A temperature difference of only one degree Celsius winds the watch for 48 hours. This interesting winding mechanism is complemented by an exquisite movement of the utmost precision with a heavy torsion pendulum.
The condition for the accuracy of the clock is a stable and vibration-free installation.

Also worth mentioning is the absolute environmental friendliness of the clock, which, despite its unlimited running time, does not need a battery or any other electrical drive.
For decades, the Atmos has been the official state gift of Switzerland to prominent visitors, e.g. politicians from abroad.

[Source: Jean Lebet - Living on Air / Jürgen Abeler - Ullstein Uhrenbuch]

Price: 3500,-€