Tom,
Faure was a French maker. The bike indeed is fully chromed, as was relatively common at the time. The "something else" is a speedometer. On the handlebars, it has matching bell and watch. All three are the same size and shape.
The story is that he was a watch maker. Only one of his bikes is
known - the one you see on the web site. Looking at the bike, it is
clear that it can't have been a project to make money. The amount of
work involved is just too much. Every part of the bike is reworked to
make it more aesthetically pleasing. When you know how much work goes
into a Singer or Herse, this one must have taken several times as
long! For a full feature on the bike, plus some Rebour drawings of
another Faure (so there must have been at least 2!) check out Vol. 1,
No. 2 of Vintage Bicycle Quarterly. Back issues are available,
although some early issues are running low.
--
Jan Heine, Seattle
Editor/Publisher
Vintage Bicycle Quarterly
http://www.mindspring.com/
Well, I stumbled onto the most marvelous photo of a bicycle on Jan
Heine's site. It is a chrome or stainless '52 Faure.
http://www.mindspring.com/
French watch maker.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi