Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Hong Kong, Feb 07, 2015

LOT 240

EDWARD PIGUET PINK GOLD TOURBILLON GRANDE DATE Audemars Piguet, Genève, "Edward Piguet - Tourbillon Grande Date", movement No. 601051, case No. F65284, Ref. 26009BC. Made circa 2007. Very fine and rare, large, rectangular curved, water-resistant, 18K pink gold wristwatch with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator, large date and an 18K pink gold Audemars Piguet deployant clasp. Accompanied by the Audemars Piguet fitted wooden box, magnifying glass, setting pins and Certificate of Origin and Authenticity (blank).

HKD 380,000 - 530,000

USD 50,000 - 68,000 / CHF 42,000 - 59,000

Sold: HKD 500,000

Two-body, solid, polished and brushed, curved, stepped sides and lugs, date corrector in the band, transparent case back with 4 screws, sapphire crystals. Silver with engine-turned sunray decoration, radial gold painted Roman numerals, large date aperture at 12, at 6 aperture for the visible tourbillon cage under a polished steel bridge, carrying the subsidiary seconds hand. Pink gold feuille hands. Cal. 2886, rhodium-plated, fausses cotes decoration, 23 jewels, lateral lever escapement with one-minute tourbillon regulator with steel cage and 3 equidistant polished steel arms, monometallic balance, shock absorber, self-compensating Breguet balance spring.


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Grade:
Case: 1

As new

Movement: 1

As new

Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

Dial, case and movement signed. DIM. 34.5 x 51 mm. THICKNESS 12 mm. AUDEMARS PIGUET Founded in 1875 by Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet. Audemars was born in Le Brassus in 1851, where he was trained by master watchmakers and trained as a "repasseur". Edward Auguste Piguet, born two years later, also trained as a "repasseur" under Charles Capt. At first, they worked together without making the partnership official. Then, in 1880, they opened a branch in Geneva. The Audemars, Piguet & Cie name was registered on December, 6, 1882, as producing movements and watch cases. Jules Audemars was the technical manager of the manufacture. Edward Piguet was the financial specialist of the firm. The two men managed the company together until 1918, when Jules Audemars died at the age of 67. Piguet died the following year. The name Audemars Piguet was to become synonymous with watches of exceptional quality, superb complications and incredibly thin movements. They manufactured many of the world's most complicated watches, the majority of which were sold to other manufacturers, who in turn sold them as their own watches. In recent years, Audemars Piguet's quest for thinness was crowned with the 1986 launching of an automatic watch with Tourbillion regulator. Its overall THICKNESS of 4.8 mm.was achieved by setting jewels into the case back and utilizing it as a plate. In 1972 the "Royal Oak" marked a turning point in the way watchmakers looked at "luxury". The launch of the Offshore saw a watch that was of a size thought to be unwearable: the gold version with bracelet weighs over 500 grams. The resilient Royal Oak once again proved the critics wrong. The 2003 Basel Fair introduced the Royal Oak T3, which dwarfs the Offshore. The last ten years have seen the launch of a wristwatch with carillon and Grande and Petite Sonnerie, as well as the "Cabinet Watches" which are among the most complicated wristwatches in the world. There is also the "John Scheffer" minute repeater which is destined to become another of Audemars Piguet's style icons.