Magneta Time Co. Ltd., Zurich, Switzerland, Magneta Master Clock, 36 hour, time and magneto, spring-driven movement with two jeweled platforms, one with remontoir all in a four-sided metal enclosure with wood base, 2.5 inch signed silvered dial.
Magneta master clocks employed a clever design that required no outside source of electricity to power the secondary clocks. The clock is equipped with a massive mainspring which drives the timekeeper and an integrated magneto, which eliminated the need for the problematic batteries of the era. This was the company's model designed specifically for steam ships. The system was employed on many White Star Line vessels including the ill-fated RMS Titanic. The movement would have triggered the magneto to run once per minute which would, in turn, impulse the secondary clocks located throughout the ship. Magneta literature from the period states that models such as this would power up to 25 secondary clocks. This explains why Titanic, a large state-of-the-art ship with many clocks, was supposed to have two such master clocks. This clock is missing the wood frame and glass lid that once covered the mechanism Some models had a second large dial showing 0- 60 on one side. If this clock had such a dial, it is now absent. The crank is also missing. The balance wheel movements did run briefly with experimentation, but this unit needs mechanical attention to work fully. The multi mechanism is signed in several places. There is masking and packaging tape residue on the outside of the case. A small paper label listing "Louis Wuele" was applied near the upper edge of the metal container. The Louis Wuele Company supplied nautical charts and instruments out of San Francisco around the turn of the century. More information on Magneta can be found in "150 Years of Electric Horology" by Crum and Keller. An image of the master clock aboard the Titanic is shown here: http://marconigraph.com/titanic/electrician/elec_110728_fig14.jpg
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