Collector's Pocket Watches, Wristwatc...

New York, Grand Havana Room, Mar 19, 2003

LOT 207

Audemars Piguet, Geneva. No. 1, movement 265031, case No. 21695, made for Asprey, London, on special order for a very important Asian customer, circa 1990.Very fine and rare, 18K gold, keyless, double train Grande, Petite Sonnerie et Silence clockwatch with minute repeater.

USD 100,000 - 120,000

EUR 93,000 - 113,000

C .four-body, massive, "bassine et filets", polished, gold hinged cuvette over glazed gold bezel for viewing the movement, gold bolt at 1 o'clock for choosing grande or petite striking, similar at 11 o'clock for striking/silent. D. off-white enamel, Roman radial numerals, outer minute divisions, subsidiary sunk seconds. Polished steel "spade" hands. M. 43 mm (19'''), rhodium-plated, "fausses-côtes" decoration, 33 jewels, straight line lever escapement, monometallic balance with self-compensatinBreguet balance spring, adjusted to temperature, isochronisms and 5 positions, tandem winding, repeating on gongs by depressing push-piece in the winding crown.Dial, case and movementsigned, movement also signed P. Dufour.Diam. 61 mm


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3
Movement: 2*
Dial: 3 - 01

Notes

This is a very interesting and rare watch. When Asprey received an order from a very important Middle-Eastern client for a small series of complicated pocket watches, it asked Audemars Piguet to construct them. The company obliged and entrusted the construction to P. Dufour, one of the foremost experts on complicated watches. It took almost ten years to complete them. The present example is the first from the series. The last one, no. 265034, is illustrated in "Audemars Piguet" by Gisbert L. Brnner, Christian Pfeiffer-Belli, and Martin K. Wehrli, München, 1993, p. 162-163.