Contemporary Limited Edition and Mode...

New York, Grand Havana Room, Sep 28, 2000

LOT 90

Audemars Piguet, Genève, 'John Schaeffer, Repetition Minutes' No. 5/10, Ref. PT25798/002, 1990's.Very fine and extremely rare, 'carré galbé', minute repeating, platinum gentleman's wristwatch with leather strap and platinum Audemars Piguet buckle.

USD 40,000 - 50,000

Sold: USD 46,000

C. three body, shaped, solid, polished and brushed, transparent case back with screws, flat bezel. D. matte silver with applied white gold indexes and Roman numerals, auxiliary seconds dial. 'Feuille' white gold hands. M. Cal. 2866, rhodium plated, 'fausses côtes' decoration, 34 jewels, lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to heat, cold isochronism and 5 positions, shock-absorber, self-compensating flat balance-spring, repeater on two gongs by means of a slide on the band.Dial, case and movement signed.Dim. 33 x 41 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 1

As new

Movement: 1

As new

Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

This wristwatch is a limited edition of only 10 examples.The original Schaeffer watch is published in Audemars Piguet by Gisbert L. Brunner, Christian Pfeiffer-Belli and Martin K. Wehrli, p. 255.John SchaefferThe first Audemars Piguet watch with minute repeater was created in 1907 for the famous American industrialist John Schaeffer who wanted to personalize his watch by having Audemars Piguet position the letters of his name on the hour markers as well as wanting a unique shape of the watch, 'carré galbé' or cushion shape. This shaped case has been reintroduced by the Le Brassus manufacture, revising its dimensions slightly wider and a little rounder than the original.What is a minute repeater?A minute repeating watch tells the time both visually and audibly. A slide on the side of the case, usually near the #9, will activate two hammers in the movement. These hammers strike two gongs curled within the case. First one hammer strikes a gong of lower tonality; it will count out the hours. Then both hammers will strike both gongs alternatively to count out the quarter hours after that hour, and then the second hammer alone striking a gong of higher tonality will count out the minutes aftr that quarter hour. The repeating mechanism was developed by Daniel Quare. In 1687, he had patented a mechanism that sounded the hours and the quarters. The early repeaters used bells. At the end of the 18th century, two bent-wire gongs became the more popular mechanism. In 1892, the first minute repeater wristwatch was produced by Omega, a model with a round-shaped case.