FN Tietz Kiel Watches Age Determination Ship's Chronometer

Tietz, Kiel was not an independent watch manufacturer, but rather:
a jeweler / watchmaker / dealer in Kiel

The name “Tietz – Kiel” was:

on dials

sometimes also on works
printed

The watches themselves almost always come from:

Swiss raw material manufacturers

Typical works & time periods:

• AS / FHF hand-wound → approx. 1930–1960

• PUW / Durowe → approx. 1940–1970

• Unitas 6300 / 6497 → from around 1950

• ETA early calibers → from approx. 1950/60

Dial & Font

Sign "Tietz Kiel":

classic, elegant → mostly 1930s–1950s

functional / simple → often 1950s–1960s

Logos:

No logos, only text → typical for dealer watches before 1960

Housing & Material

Chrome-plated brass → 1930s–1950s

Stainless steel → more common from the late 1950s onwards

Gold hallmarks (585 / 14K) → easily datable via German hallmarks

Shock protection (Incabloc):

missing → mostly before 1940

present → mostly after 1945

Luminescent material

Important clue:

Radium (strongly yellowed, slightly brownish):
→ ca. 1920–1955

Tritium (matter, more uniform):
→ from about 1955

The company FN Tietz was founded by Johann Friedrich Nicolaus Tietz . Johann Friedrich Nicolaus, or Friedrich Nicolaus, was born on February 21, 1843 , in Heide, a town in Schleswig-Holstein. He took his oath of citizenship in Kiel in 1886. His business was located at Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 28, and he was listed as a chronometer maker in the 1915 address book. His son, Carl Tietz, became the owner in 1930. Due to the war, he was forced to assemble and regulate standard chronometers and observation watches , such as the A. Lange & Söhne observation watch caliber 48.1 .

Several clocks from the Tietz company have survived. He sourced his movements from renowned chronometer manufacturers in Germany and England, such as Tomas Mercer . A beautiful precision pendulum clock from 1875 , featuring a Graham escapement , jeweled pallets , and a pendulum with mercury barometer compensation, has been preserved. It has a glazed mahogany case, a regulator dial with a 24-hour indicator at 6 o'clock, a minute counter in the center, and a seconds counter at 12 o'clock. Also from his company is a ship's wall clock of the Imperial Navy, No. 1892479, with a solid brass dial inscribed with the Imperial Crown M 1257, a brass movement with a screw balance , Breguet overcoil , and Maltese cross , and an 8-day movement by Gustav Becker from Freyberg in Silesia. An identical watch with the imperial crown M 3835 was on board the U-boat 80, which was handed over to the British government by the German Navy on November 28, 1818.

Several clocks by Carl Tietz still exist, for example, ship's wall clock No. 1936 and marine chronometer No. 2053 from 1939. Chronometer No. 691 by A. Lange & Söhne was delivered to the Tietz company on December 31, 1936, with the dial engraving: FN Tietz – Kiel No. 2029. The well-preserved movement of English design in the pictured chronometer is presumably from Mercer. The movement bears the number 2717, and the dial is signed with the number 2024. Between 1929 and 1937, Tietz submitted 16 chronometers to the Hamburg Naval Observatory for testing.

Johann Friedrich Nicolaus Tietz died on November 9, 1931 in Kiel.

Source: WatchWiki, AI