Printing chronometer recorder for pigeon fanciers in its original box from the early 20th century

Scientific instrument for pigeon fanciers: the "Rapide Simon" brand printing stopwatch
This former printer recorder for carrier pigeons includes a clock-stopwatch system with its winding key, 10 small brass message boxes to be fixed on a pigeon and a printing system.
The box is made of oak wood, the interior mainly in bronze and iron
Instructions for use and inscriptions inside "Constateur - printer, Rapide Simon, Manufacturer Gaston Simon in Tourcoing (Nord)"
On the top of the box a brass plate "R. Lançon à Tours" (certainly the name of its former owner)
Box: h: 13 cm depth: 16.4 cm long: 20.3 cm, height with key: 18.5 cm
History:
Carrier pigeon racing appeared in Belgium at the beginning of the 19th century. The enthusiasm was such that it spread throughout Europe and then the whole world. The watch industry took part in the development of sport pigeon racing by proposing mechanisms for recording the time of return of pigeons. The term observer was used for a natural person who visually observed the return time of the pigeons using a watch. This finding was then recorded in writing.
The development of these devices really began in the 1890s. Many gauges appeared of different brands and this instrument became essential for the practice of pigeon sport.
The craze for this sport became such that the inventors and industrialists of Europe contributed to the development of the clock for more than a century.
The printing recorder is a model registered in 1903 for 10 pigeons after that of Mr. Friedrich Ernst Benzing, in Germany.
Home time is printed on a strip of paper through an inked canvas.
An identical model of this instrument is currently in the museum of Lewarde, historic mining center, department of the North (inventory n° 2016.8.1).

Ref: 2JW4Y90YKZ