DEBIERE, Arnold (1878 ? 1934). DeBiere?s Watch Trick. Circa 1920. Three borrowed pocket watches are rammed into the end of a pistol with funnel attachment. The gun is fired toward a wooden chair on which an audience volunteer sits. The watches appear from the seat of the chair, suspended on black silk ribbons. They are collected and returned to their owners. Complex clockwork mechanism conceals three pocket watches and a key-wound mechanism, which may be attached to any chair. The watches drop when the mechanism is activated by the pull of a stout thread. Aluminum and brass gimmick 7 ? x 6 ? x 1?. Offered with three vintage pocket watches and terse (but clear) handwritten directions explaining the routine. An unusual mechanical effect with the hallmarks of Jon Martin?s work in the concealed clockwork mechanism. This prop is one of many obtained by the Davenport family upon the death of Arnold DeBiere in the 1930s.