Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

New York, The Grand Havana Room, Sep 20, 2006

LOT 130

"Breguet à Versailles", Grand Complication "Tourbillon 1801- 2001", No. 9/28, Ref. 1801. Made expressly in a limited edition of 28 examples in 2001 to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the invention of the tourbillon by Abraham-Louis Breguet. Extremely fine, rare and unique, large, half-hunter case, water-resistant, 18K white gold and diamonds gentleman's wristwatch with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator and an 18K white gold Breguet deployant clasp. Accompanied by fitted wooden box, a tourbillon certificate and a loupe.

USD 100,000 - 150,000

EUR 80,000 - 120,000

Sold: USD 111,650

C. Four-body, solid, polished and brushed, hinged cover with porthole and engraved "Tourbillon" plaque, entirely pavé-set with diamonds, opened by a co-axial push-button in the winding crown, transparent case back to view the movement, reeded band, straight diamond-set lugs with gold-screwed bars, sapphire crystals. D. White enamel, off-center ring dial with painted radial Breguet numerals and marked "1801-2001". Secret "Breguet" signature, Blued steel "Breguet" hands, at 6 the visible tourbillon cage under a polished steel bridge, carrying the blued steel seconds hand. M. Cal. 557, entirely hand-engraved and signed "Tourbillon Breguet Nr. 1897. Brevet du 7 Messidor ans 9", 21 jewels, lateral lever escapement with one-minute tourbillon regulator with 3 equidistant polished steel arms, monometallic balance adjusted to 6 positions, shockabsorber, self-compensating Breguet balance-spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 42 mm. Thickness 12 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 1

As new
Movement: 1

As new
Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

Upon special request of the owner, famous Swiss retailer Les Ambassadeurs in Geneva had the cover and the lugs of the watch pavé-set with 402 brilliant-cut diamonds of the TW VVS quality totaling 6.18 carats. The ?Breguet à Versailles Tourbillon 1801-2001? limited edition was made in a total of 66 pieces as follows: - 28 examples in white gold with enamel dial - 28 examples in pink gold with enamel dial - 10 examples in platinum with silver guilloché dial. On June 26, 1801 - or according to the short-lived Republican calendar of the time, 7 Messidor, year IX - A. L. Breguet received a patent from the French Ministry of the Interior for a new regulating device for watches, the Tourbillon. Technically an innovative and complex mechanism, only 35 watches of this kind were sold between 1805 and 1823, the year of Breguet's death. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of his patent, the Breguet company introduced this model at the "Château de Versailles" in May of 2001. The design of the movement follows in its construction in every detail the specifications from the original patent documents by Breguet. From technical features to aesthetical ones such as the design of the famous Breguet hands, this rare timepiece continues the legacy of the most ingenious watchmaker of all times into the 21st Century.