Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

New York - The Fuller Building, Mar 28, 2007

LOT 261

"Edward Piguet - Quantième Perpétuel" Audemars Piguet, "Edward Piguet - Quantième Perpétuel", Automatic, No. 22, Ref. OR 25853. Made in a limited edition of 50 pieces in the 1990s. Very fine and rare, rectangular, astronomic, self-winding, water-resistant, 18K pink gold gentleman's wristwatch with perpetual calendar, moon phases, leap year indication and an 18K pink gold Audemars Piguet buckle. Accompanied by a fitted box and a certificate.

USD 16,000 - 20,000

EUR 12,000 - 15,000

C. Two-body, solid, polished, correctors on band, transparent case back with 4 screws, sapphire crystals. D. Black with applied pink gold Breguet numerals, subsidiary dials for the months, the date and day of the week, aperture for the phases of the moon with lunar age sector. Pink gold "baton" hands. M. Cal. 2141, gilt, "oeil-de-perdrix" and very fine hand-engraved decoration, 34 jewels, straightline lever escapement, monometallic balance, shock absorber, self-compensating flat balance spring, hack mechanism, 21K gold rotor segment. Dial, case and movement signed. Dim. 27 x 45 mm. Thickness 11 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good

Case: 3

Good

Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

Jaeger LeCoultre, "Reverso". The history of the "Reverso" begins in 1930 in India. Cesar de Trey, a Swiss traveler, conceived the idea of a watch that could be turned over to protect its dial and crystal from the dangers common watches faced on the dusty polo fields in the then British colony. Back in Switzerland, he approached the LeCoultre company in Le Sentier with his ideas. The watch case was developed by the Jaeger company in France, who asked French designer and engineer, René-Alfred Chauvet, to prepare the drawings for its production. Chauvet applied for Patent No. 712868 at the French Ministry of Trade and Industry on March 4th, 1931 and finally a patent was granted for the new design of a rectangular watch case that could be swiveled around, so that the solid case back protected the delicate mineral crystal from breakage. The new "Reverso" watch was destined to be in the stores already for the Christmas business in 1931 and LeCoultre envisioned a production of 5000 timepieces altogether. This watch became one of the company's most famous models. Today, more than 70 years later, its case has been carefully optimized, but its character remains unchanged. Embodying the style of the Art Deco period, the clean lines and the high quality of the "Reverso" watches have made it Jaeger LeCoultre's leading model and the company has carefully extended the line to offer a greater variety of one of the most characteristic and famous timepieces in the history of the wristwatch. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the "Reverso", in 1991, Jaeger Le- Coultre introduced a limited edition model of only 500 examples in 18k pink gold in a larger, "Grande Taille" case, that became the first one of 6 limited models released in the following years. Each edition featured a special complication or technical innovation, offering maximum functionality in a minimum of space, that had not been realized in a "Reverso" until that time. In 2002, the "Platinum One" became the first "Reverso" realized in a platinum case.