Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Hong Kong, Oct 25, 2015

LOT 259

BLANCPAIN 1735 GRAND COMPLICATION PLATINUM Blancpain, "1735 - Grande Complication," No. 15/30. Made in a limited edition of 30 pieces in the 1990s. Production of this model began in 1991. Extremely fine, rare and important, large, astronomic, minute-repeating, self-winding, platinum wristwatch with one-minute tourbillon regulator, round button co-axial splitseconds chronograph, register, perpetual calendar, moon phases and moon age and a platinum Blancpain buckle. Accompanied by an instruction manual booklet and certificate( blank )

HKD 2,300,000 - 2,800,000

USD 300,000 - 360,000 / CHF 290,000 - 350,000

Sold: HKD 2,670,000

Three-body, solid, polished, stepped bezel, transparent stepped case back, straight lugs, correctors on the band, sapphire crystals. White with applied white gold radial Roman numerals, outer 1/5th seconds track with 5-minute/seconds Arabic markers, subsidiary dials for the 30-minute register, the days of the month, of the week, the months and the leap year, sector graduated for the age of the moon, aperture for the moon phases. White gold feuille hands. Cal. 1735, hand-engraved gold movement plates and bridges, 44 jewels, lateral lever escapement with one-minute tourbillon regulator with 3 equidistant polished steel arms under a polished steel bridge, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions, self-compensating flat balance spring, skeletonized and hand-engraved platinum rotor, repeating on gongs by activating slide on the band.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 2-9

Very good

Scratched
Movement: 2*

Very good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 2-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

Dial, case and movement signed. DIAM. 42 mm. THICKNESS 17 mm. After a fresh start in 1983 under JEAN-CLAUDE BIVER, the firm, which was founded in 1735 by JEHAN-JACQUES BLANCPAIN, continues today under the new and equally skilled leadership of CEO MARC HAYEK. The tradition for fine watchmaking continues in its premises in Le Brassus and Villeret in the Vallée de Joux, placing the emphasis on craftsmanship and tradition. In 1988 Blancpain presented the "Six Masterpieces of the Watchmaking Art", classic and understated wristwatches symbolizing the essence of watchmaking and highlighting movement complications rather than merely fancy case designs. Intended as a tribute to the countless watchmakers and craftsmen who as farmers turned to watchmaking for additional income during the cold and harsh winters, and in doing so laid the foundations of watchmaking and tool-making that remain the basis of the horological culture today. Watchmakers never rest on their laurels, and 1991 saw the presentation of one of the most complicated wristwatches ever made until today - the "1735". It took 6 years of research, development and testing before the highly complicated and complex masterpiece could be presented, uniting the complications of the "Six Masterpieces" in a single watch! "Calibre 1735" comprises 740 finely finished movement parts. Only 2 specialists assemble these extraordinary micromechanical wonders.