CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FASTENING OF BRACELETS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste Lion, of 51, Rue de Malte, Paris, in the
Empire of France, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
FASTENING OF BRACELETS."
Sealed the 13th December 1861, and dated the 26th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Lion at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
June 1861.
I, AUGUSTE LION, of 51, Rue de Malte, Paris, in the Empire of France, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE FASTENING OF BRACELETS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the employment of a safety screw fixed on the
ordinary catch, or on the opposite part, that is to say, on the hole of the catch
of bracelets; in the latter case the screw replaces the small knob which is
usually fixed on the catch, and which serves for opening it either by pressing
it down or drawing it up. My safety screw being employed in conjunction
with the catch gives a double fastening to the bracelet, which is closed, first,
by the ordinary catch, and, secondly, by the safety screw, which prevents the
catch from becoming loose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Auguste Lion in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUST
LION, of 51, Rue de Malte, Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Auguste Lion, Her special licence that I, the said Auguste Lion,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Auguste Lion, iny executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE FASTENING OF BRACELETS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Auguste Lion, my executors or administrators, by
an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Auguste Lion, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Bracelets fastened by the ordinary snap or spring fastening are exceedingly
liable to become accidentally unfastened and consequently lost, owing to the
insecurity of the usual snap or fastening, which is likely to come open from a
mere inadvertent or unintentional pressure, as, for example, by the wearer's
happening to rest her wrist on another person's arm, or on a table or other
surface.
Now, the object of the present Invention is to render the fastening of brace-
lets more secure than heretofore, and for this purpose I employ a screw, which
I fit on either of the two portions forming the fastening, that is to say, either

page_text: on the spring, bolt, or male portion of the fastening, or else on the other or
opposite portion of the fastening, that is to say, the mouthpiece, socket, recess,
or female portion that receives and retains the spring or first-named portion.
By employing this screw in combination with the fastening, the portions of the
latter are held firmly together, and the bracelet can be effectually and securely
fastened.
In order that the nature of my. Invention and the mode of performing it
may be fully understood, I proceed particularly to describe the best means.
known to me for carrying the same into effect.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a fastening with my
improvement applied. In the arrangement shewn in this Figure the screw is.
fitted on the spring part or male portion a, a, of the fastening, a' being the
spring proper; G is the opposite or female portion forming the mouthpiece for
receiving the spring; it is of ordinary construction, and fixed at one end of the
bracelet, as usual; V, v, is a screw, of which V is the head, and v the body or
shank; the head V here replaces the knob or stud, which is usually soldered on
this side of the fastening for exerting pressure on the spring to open the
bracelet; e is a metal nut in which the screw works; it is soldered on the
spring a¹. The screw has a stop or projecting part at bottom, to prevent its
escaping from the nut e. When the screw is sufficiently depressed in its nut e,
its head V comes against and rests upon the top of the nut, which prevents the
screw from injuring the bottom plate 6 of the mouthpiece G. When the
bracelet is to be fastened, the part a, a', is inserted as usual into the part G..
being slidden therein until the heel c of the latter forces down the spring a',.
but when the spring comes fully down, the heel c will have come into the
space or opening i left between the end of the spring a', and the body of the-
bracelet, whereupon the spring a¹ will rise, its outer edge abutting against
the inner edge of the heel.c, and the bracelet will be closed.. This so far is.
the ordinary mode of fastening a bracelet, and it can be easily opened by just
pressing on the screw head V, just as if it were the ordinary knob or stud of a
common bracelet snap, whereupon the spring a will be depressed and free
itself from the heel c, and the bracelet will be unfastened; but if, when the
fastening is closed by inserting the spring a, a, into the recess G, as before-
explained, the wearer applies her finger and thumb to the screw head V, and
turns the screw till the head rests on the top of the nut e, the bottom of the
screw will press lightly on the plate a (or on the plate 6 of the mouthpiece G,
if the plate a be perforated or slotted through), the screw when in that position
will hold the parts of the fastening firmly together, and it will be impossible to

page_text: unfasten the bracelet by pulling at the part a, a', or by pressing on the head V.
In order to unfasten the bracelet when so secured, the screw must be
screwed up again sufficiently to liberate the portion a², and pressure must be
then exerted on the screw head V, to bring the spring a¹ under the heel c.
In Figure 2 the screw v is shewn as placed on a double or forked spring
a, a', but in precisely similar manner to that shewn in Figure 1, the descrip-
tion of which with this Drawing is sufficiently explanatory without further
description; the parts are lettered as in Figure 1.
Figure 3 shews a modification in which the screw v is on the opposite side
of the fastening, that is, on the mouthpiece G, which receives and retains the
spring or male portion a, a¹. is the screw; V, its head; and e, its nut
which is soldered on the part G. When the bracelet is to be fastened, the part
a, a', is inserted as usual into the mouthpiece G; as soon as it gets to the end
the spring a¹ is free to rise, its edge abutting against the internal surface of
the mouthpiece G. The bracelet will thus be firmly fastened, and it will be
impossible to open it by pulling the part a, a¹, or by pressing on the screw
head. The mode of opening it is as follows:-The screw vis depressed or
screwed down in its nut until the tail or end i of the screw, which is more
slender than the rest of the screw shank, passes through the part a', which is
slotted at s for the purpose; but the rest of the shank v being thicker than i,
will not pass through the slots, but bears upon the surface of the spring a,
and so depresses the spring, allowing it to be passed under the heel c of the
mouthpiece G, but the part a, a¹, is nevertheless prevented from coming
wholly out of the part G, owing to its being retained therein by the end i
passed through the slot s. To open the bracelet wholly, therefore, the screw v
must be worked upward till its end i comes out of the slots, thereby liberating
the spring a, a¹, and allowing it to be drawn wholly out of G. The screw vis
prevented from damaging the plate a, because its head V comes in contact
with and rests on the nut just when the spring a¹ is sufficiently depressed to
pass under the heel c. In this modification the action of inserting the
spring a, a, into the portion G of the snap, effects the fastening, which is pre-
vented from coming open, and is thereby rendered secure by means of the
screw.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the application or combination of a screw to or with the spring
fastenings of bracelets, as before described.
Second, the application of the screw on the spring, bolt, or male portion of

page_text: the fastening, so that when the latter is fully in the mouthpiece, or opposite or
female portion of the fastening, the bracelet cannot be opened by pulling or
pressure.
Third, the application of the screw on the mouthpiece or female portion of
the fastening, in such manner that the insertion of the spring or bolt in such
mouthpiece (or female portion) fastens the bracelet, which can only be unfas-
tened by first depressing the screw to depress the spring, and then raising the
screw to liberate the spring from the mouthpiece.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Lion, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
BRESSOU,
Ingénieur Civil,
Rue de Malte, 51, Paris.
AUGUSTE LION. (L.S.)