New This Week:

5.62/13.22  WORLD WAR II NAVIGATION WATCH.  Scarce, very collectible master navigational watch made by the prestigious Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the Army and Navy at the beginning of World War II.  This model 9942B is extremely high quality with a lever escapement and 22 jewels!  It is a 16 size pocket watch with 24 hour dial and continuously running center sweep second hand.  It has what is referred to as a dual orbit dial, reading hours 1 through 24 on the inner orbit and 60 seconds, 5 through 60 marked by 5’s on the outer.  The black dial is marked “G.C.T.” above the center arbor, meaning Greenwich Civil Time.  It is stem wound, stem set with large pocket watch bow at the top.  The complex movement is marked “HAMILTON WATCH CO. U.S.A. 4992B 22 JEWELS ADJ. TEMP & 6 POSITIONS.”  It is set in a chromium-plated nickel silver case with screw-on bezel and back.  The back is engraved with the manufacturer’s name, government part number, contract number and serial number.  Cosmetically fine.  Excellent running condition, having just been service by a professional watchmaker.  659

Marvin Whitney, in his landmark reference book, “Military Timepieces,” 1992, AWI Press devotes 4 pages to describing and picturing this impressive timepiece.  He notes on page 334 “Hamilton started production on the Master Navigation Watch in 1942.  This watch was also referred to as a 22-jewel navigation watch, 22-jewel aircraft navigation watch, and 22-jewel master navigation watch.”

An eBay search on the date of this posting revealed 4 such watches offered, priced from $714.68 to $3,261.66.  None indicated they had been serviced.

8.95  SHIP’s PLAQUE.  Authentic solid brass plaque removed from the entrance to the pilot house of the British passenger liner S.S. ARCADIA engraved “WHEEL HOUSE.”  4 3/8 by 1 inches.  Complete with a colorful photo and write-up of the ship.  Guaranteed to be original.  Personally removed by us when the ship was salvaged in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1975.  49

21.64   EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TELESCOPIC BINOCULARS.   This is an opportunity to acquire one of the world’s finest optical devices ever produced.  It was made by the famous Carl Zeiss, Jena  (Germany) Company. This truly extraordinary set of binoculars  was the top of the line of company’s output known as their “ASEMBI” model,  featured in their rare original 1926 catalogue (included in this offering).  The all brass construction features two long tapering telescope barrels in black crackle finish.  The huge objective lenses are 80 mm in diameter.  The rotating eye pieces provide 3 different powers:  12, 20 and 40 x.  Accordingly, the set is technically known as 12 x 80, 20 x 80 and 40 x 80 binoculars respectively.  Each of the 6 oculars focus independently from -10 through +10 diopters.  The back of the left barrel is marked “CARL ZEISS JENA.”  The back of the right barrel is marked “D.F. 80 x 500 Nr. 11315.”  Between the barrels there is a “gun sight” for precise positioning of the object being viewed.  The twin barrels are mounted on a pivoting black lacquered brass support with a locking lever that can be set at any angle (elevation) for viewing.  It also allows the binoculars to slew (train) a full 360 degrees in either direction.  The support fits over a brass column affixed to the top of the accompanying tripod.  The top of such a tripod is known as the “spider.”  The aluminum spider has 3 attachment points for the very sturdy oak and brass tripod legs.  The heavy duty apparatus is height adjustable using brass thumb screws at the bottom of each leg.  The arrangement provides a height from 30 ½ inches to 55 inches from the ground to the top of the spider platform.  Each of the tripod legs are fitted with durable steel tips.  The fittings are all solid brass.  The overall configuration allows for a height of eye from 56 to 73 inches, or approximately 6 feet tall.  Note:  this is not the overall height, it is the height to the observer’s eye.  Remarkably, the entire presentation comes complete with its original dove-tailed hardwood (ash or maple?) carrying case of superior quality in perfect condition.  The legs may be detached from the spider and fit into the box.  (Not shown here).   The box has black lacquered steel fittings, hook and eye closures, brass hinges and a large brass skeleton key lock with both original skeleton keys.  The box measures 32 ¼ inches long, 15 inches wide and 7 inches thick.  The quality and condition of the entire presentation cannot be overstated.  Simply put, everything is in MINT original condition throughout, with NO flaws.  The carrying case does exhibit some age patina of the exterior surfaces after a century.  The interior is as the day it was made!  It does not appear that this set was ever used.  We are honored to be able to offer this for private sale.   21,495

The original price list and catalogue (included with this offering) indicate the price of the Asembi model to be $705.00 dollars effective March 24, 1926.  That price equates to $21,626 in current dollars.  Effectively then, we are selling this rare antique which has survived in mint, unused original condition for nearly 100 years, for LESS than it originally cost!

Ex. Noted museum collection.  The identity of the museum will be given to the ultimate buyer.

COMPS:< /br> Kodner Galleries, Dania Beach, Florida advertised a pair of 1930 Japanese binoculars of World War II vintage of similar form in 2015.  They sold for $71,000 each.  Another advertisement from Daniels Antiques of Hallandale, Florida offered similar aluminum binoculars priced at $75,000 each in 2011.  Original verifying documentation accompanies this offering.

4.12  WHALEBONE CLOTHESPINS.  Matched set of 9 individually hand-made clothespins turned out of the dense whalebone from a sperm whale’s jaw called “panbone.”  This diminutive set is a demonstrable example of utilitarian scrimshaw produced by the whalers in the 19th century.  Each is shaped with a bulbous top and a tapered body with a slot to fit on the clothesline.  All have identical decorative scribe lines at the “waste” above the slot.  2 ¾ inches long each.  Outstanding original condition.  A rare matched set.  289

Not available or for sale in California. Shipped from Massachusetts.

4.11   SCRIMSHAW LETTER OPENER.  Good 19th century whaleman-made letter opener fashioned from whalebone.  This distinctively-carved piece features a clenched fist on the handle followed by helical carving terminating in a flat bladed knife edge with pointed tip and sharp edges.  It measures 7 ½ inches long by 5/8 inches wide on the blade. Excellent original condition.   A real bargain!  139

16.66  EARLY CORK SCREW.  Very old, wine cork screw of French manufacture.  This oenophilic tool has a sculpted bone handle with a tufted bristle brush on one side and a turned bone cap on the other.  The working end is a cast iron cork screw with radiating circular top, the entire assembly of which is rove through the bone, held by a very old style circular nut.  The width of the bone handle is 3 ¾ inches.  With brush is measures 4 ¾ inches wide and 4 inches to the tip of the corkscrew to the top of the handle.  Overall condition is excellent, however the tip of the screw was broken off by an enthusiastic wine bibber.  Priced accordingly.  149

AUTHENTIC LIGHTHOUSE. This is the ultimate! Here is an exceptional opportunity to own a very historic relic of America’s rich maritime heritage embodied in the original lamp room from the famous Ballast Point Lighthouse, which served its sentinel duties in the channel of San Diego Bay from 1890 until 1960. This incredibly well-preserved piece of history was built according to specifications laid out by the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1885. A copy of the original specifications are included as are much printed references and photographs. Erected in 1890, the 5th Order lighthouse was a significant aid to navigation in conjunction with the Point Loma Lighthouse (1850) poised at the entrance to San Diego Bay. Ballast Point Light was situated further inside the massive bay on a point which jutted into the seaway which posed a hazard to shipping. 13 feet 10 inches high with a maximum width of 8 feet 8 inches. Weight approximately 5 tons. It will require a crane and a flat bed truck for transport. 129 years old! Price Request

HISTORY

On October 2, 1888, recognizing the need for a harbor light in the increasingly congested channel of San Diego Bay, Congress authorized $25,000 for the construction of a lighthouse to be built on Ballast Point. Fashioned in the late Victorian style, the entire structure took 3 months to build beginning in March 1890. The light was first lit on August 1st. It was a sister of the lights at San Luis Obispo and Table Bluff, south of Humboldt Bay. All were wood framed structures with attached living quarters. The ironwork for the lantern was forged in San Francisco and carried south to San Diego by ship. The French firm of Sautter, Lemmonier, & Cie. manufactured the Freznel lens for the Ballast Point Light in 1886. The fixed 5th Order lens was visible for a distance of at least 11 miles.

When California was still part of Mexico the peninsula jutting into San Diego Bay was known as Punta del los Guijarros or “Pebble Point.” For centuries cobblestones washed down by the San Diego River had been deposited on the point. When California gained statehood in 1850 the point was renamed Middle Ground Shoal. As time went on and merchant traffic in the harbor increased, many sailing ships found it convenient to load or discharge the stones as ballast. The practice continued and eventually the name “Ballast Point” stuck.

Accompanying the Ballast Point lighthouse was a huge 2,000 pound fog bell in a wooden tower. In 1928 it was supplanted by a single tone electric diaphone horn.

The first keeper of the light was John M. Nilsson, assigned duty on July 15, 1890. The second was Henry Hall, who took the job on December 1, 1892. Perhaps the most famous keeper was Irish born David R. Splaine, a Civil War veteran and veteran lighthouse keeper, who assumed the post in 1894, having served at Point Conception, the Farallons and San Diego’s own Point Loma light from 1886-1889.

In 1913 the original old kerosene lamp was replaced with an acetylene burner. Acetylene gave way to electricity in 1928. In 1938 a filter was fitted inside the 5th Order Freznel lens giving the light a distinctive green hue for recognition. One of the last keepers of the light was Radford Franke who recalled receiving the order to “douse the light” upon the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

By early 1960 the light was deemed to be of no further service, so in June of that year the lantern room was removed to a salvage yard. The wooden tower and its brick and mortar foundation remained a couple of years later until they too were declared structurally unsafe and demolished. The bell tower continued to survive, mounted with a 375 mm high intensity lamp on its roof. However the value of maintaining any light on Ballast Point diminished with the installation of harbor entrance range lights. In the late 1960’s the bell and its tower were dismantled. The tower found its way to a private residence in Lakeside, California. The bell had a more circuitous later life. It was purchased from a San Diego area junk yard in 1969 for its scrap value of 5 cents per pound! The one ton bell remained on local private property until 1991, when it was put on loan to the San Diego Maritime Museum. In 1999 the bell was transported to the son of the original buyer, living in Colorado. Then in 2002, the bell finally found its way to the home of the owner’s granddaughter living in Vermont, where it rests to this day.

The story of the lantern’s later life is even more fascinating. The nation was just recovering from the Cuban Missile Crisis between JFK and Khrushchev, when in 1964 the Cuban government cut off the fresh water supply to the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay. By that time, an experimental desalinization plant had been in operation at Point Loma for 2 years. The Navy hastily ordered it to be disassembled and shipped through the Panama Canal to Cuba. A gentleman working as a crane operator during the process noted the shabby lantern room in a trash heap nearby. He inquired as to the fate of the relic and was told it was salvage. Asking if he could purchase it, the yard foreman told him he could “have it” if he would haul it away. With that, for the next 34 years the lantern room served as a gazebo in the backyard of the man’s residence in Bonita, California. It was purchased by the present owners in 1998, fully refurbished, and then placed on public display ever since. Now it is time for it to find its next new home. According to the crane operator who delivered the lamp room it weighs approximately 5 tons. It will require a crane and a flat bed truck for removal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

F. Ross Holland, “The Old Point Loma Lighthouse,” 1978, Cabrillo Historical Association, San Diego, California

Jim Gibbs, “The Twilight of Lighthouses,” 1996, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA.

Kin Fahlen and Karen Scanlon, “Lighthouse of San Diego,” 2008, Arcadia Publishing, San Francisco

Kraig Anderson, “Forgotten Ballast Point “Lighthouse” Seeks New Home,” article in “Lighthouse Digest,” East Machias, Maine, September – October 2011, Vol. XX, no. 5 pages 34 – 37.

“Mains’l Haul,” a periodic publication of the San Diego Maritime Association, Summer 1990, Vol. XXVI, No. 4, pp. 11-12.