Important Collectors' Wristwatches, P...
Hong Kong, Jun 27, 2009
LOT 451
Tourbillon Chronograph Audemars Piguet, Genève, "Jules Audemars Tourbillon Chronograph", movement No. 505266, case No. E 50846, Ref. 25909. Production of this reference started in 1999. Very fine and rare, large, 18K white gold wristwatch with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator, round button chronograph, register and an 18K white gold Audemars Piguet deployant clasp. Accompanied by the original box, certificate and instruction booklet.
HKD 420,000 - 560,000
USD 60,000 - 80,000 / EUR 42,000 - 56,000
C. Three-body, solid, polished and brushed, stepped bezel, straight lugs, transparent case back, sapphire crystals. D. White enamel with luminous radial Arabic numerals, 30-minute register at 3, aperture for the tourbillon regulator under a polished steel bridge at 6, carrying the seconds hand. White gold skeleton arrow hands with luminous tips. M. Cal. 2879-1, rhodium-plated, fausses cotes decoration, 30 jewels, lateral lever escapement with one-minute tourbillon regulator with steel cage and 3 equidistant polished steel arms, monometallic balance adjusted to heat, cold and 5 positions, self-compensating Breguet balance spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 43 mm. Thickness 13 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: |
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Case: 1 |
As new |
Movement: 1 |
As new |
Dial: 1-01 |
As new HANDS Original |
Notes
A Tourbillon is a regulating mechanism in which the escapement of a movement is housed within a revolving carriage. It was developed in an effort to attain better precision. When a watch is in a vertical position, the force of gravity will speed the balance wheel as it moves in its downward (arc) direction and slow it as it moves upward, creating deviational errors of timekeeping. By placing the balance and escapement in a carriage that revolves 360° per minute, these errors become averaged and the timekeeping becomes constant and consequently adjustable. Created by Abraham Louis Breguet in 1795, the tourbillon is considered a difficult and complex achievement by any watch manufacturer.