Important Collectors Wristwatches, P...
New York - The Fuller Building, Dec 07, 2006
LOT 364
?Platinum Tourbillon? Breguet, "Tourbillon", No. 403, Brevet du 7 Messidor, An 9, Ref. 5357. Made circa 2000. Very fine and rare, large, platinum gentleman's wristwatch with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator, regulator dial and a platinum Breguet deployant clasp.
USD 50,000 - 70,000
EUR 40,000 - 55,000
Sold: USD 56,640
C. Three-body, solid, polished, reeded case band, straight lugs with gold screwed bars, transparent case back to view the movement, sapphire crystals. D. Silvered gold, guilloché, with painted radial Roman numerals on an off-center plain reserve, Breguet secret signature, at 6 aperture for the visible tourbillon cage under a polished steel bridge, carrying the blued steel initial "B" as seconds hand. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Cal. 558.1, rhodium-plated, one bridge entirely hand-engraved and signed "Breguet Nr. 1430 - 7 Messidor An 9", 21 jewels, lateral lever escapement with one-minute tourbillon regulator with 3 equidistant polished steel arms, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions, self-compensating Breguet balance spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 40 mm. Thickness 10 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Notes
A Tourbillon is a regulating mechanism in which the escapement of a movement is housed within a revolving carriage. It was developed in an effort to attain better precision. When a watch is in a vertical position, the force of gravity will speed the balance wheel as it moves in its downward (arc) direction and slow it as it moves upward, creating deviational errors of timekeeping. By placing the balance and escapement in a carriage that revolves 360° per minute, these errors become averaged and the timekeeping becomes constant and consequently adjustable. Created by Abraham Louis Breguet in 1795, the tourbillon is considered a difficult and complex achievement by any watch manufacturer.