The Remarkable Pocket Chronographs of the Gerd-Rüdiger Lang Collection

The true story of Swiss watchmaking

This website is made by humans for humans. Any use of text and/or images by a bot or AI for data collection or machine learning purposes is strictly prohibited and will be considered a violation of copyright.

Cart / Empty

24 03, 2026
News
219 views

Let’s continue exploring the extensive collection of Gerd-Rüdiger Lang, which was auctioned by Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris on March 11.

Special thanks to Alexandre de Lamberterie at Bonhams for his assistance, and to André Ghighi for his expertise on the operation of Bovet chronographs.

Lot 27

This split-seconds chronograph has no markings on the dial, so one must examine the movement to try to determine its origin. It features a “Vallée de Joux” quality caliber with a swan-neck regulator and an oscillating pinion clutch. This is a double-oscillating-pinion caliber by Charles Funk of Geneva, patented in 1905 (patent CH 34 974).

- Lots 33, 59 et 96

These three watches are particularly interesting because they feature different variations of Hermann Bovet’s “double chronograph.” In 1888, Hermann Bovet filed a patent for a “new chronograph-counter system” (Patent CH 12. Friedrich Bovet and Albin Bessire of Péry were co-inventors, but they assigned their rights to Hermann Bovet) .

This system allows for the measurement of long intervals, up to 24 hours. He and his father later supplemented this patent with a second one in 1889 (CH 1527) describing a “double chronograph watch”—in fact, two chronograph movements, one visible and the other hidden beneath the dial. Lot 59 combines both patents, as it features two chronographs: one for long intervals and the other for the central seconds hand. The mainplate bears the Bovet mark and the patent number.

Lot 33 is a variant of Bovet’s double chronograph featuring a split-seconds function. The Bovet brand name does not appear on it; it is likely a later version produced after Hermann Bovet’s untimely death in 1891. Production of these chronographs was subsequently transferred to Louis Muller in Biel.

Lot 96 is another late version of Bovet’s dual chronograph, featuring a central chronograph seconds hand and two hands at 6 o’clock for a running seconds hand and a second chronograph seconds hand.

- Lots 34

The chronograph from Lot 34, with its attractive central seconds hand and original case, is typical of the production of Edouard Heuer & Cie in Biel. The oscillating pinion and the patent numbers on the mainplate easily confirm this.

To be continued…