Calm, punctuality, timekeeping: two timepieces for the patient

Anyone who meditates seriously is well advised to leave their watch outside the practice room — it is nothing but a distraction. If one watch were to be allowed, however, it would be our pocket watch by Edward Massey. For it is calm itself: its balance oscillates at the lowest conceivable frequency of 0.5 hertz, or 3,600 vibrations per hour. Like a large regulator clock, its ticking proceeds at a leisurely pace, step by step, once a second.

Massey’s escapement

The watch was made by Edward Massey Jr. (1768-1852), a gifted designer who simplified and improved the lever escapement into what became known as the Massey escapement. Chronometer precision should not be expected — but does punctuality matter to someone who takes the day as it comes?

At the foot of Mount Fuji

Its counterpart for the home: a small table clock «à la Japonaise» with finely executed lacquer work from the heyday of Japonisme around 1900, when Asian art strongly influenced European workshops. When the cover is opened, diamond-set hands and numerals on a ground of lacquer and jade indicate the hours.

Both timepieces were offered at the Spring Auction 2026 — alongside more than 100 other pocket watches from various periods.