Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

New York - The Fuller Building, Jun 14, 2007

LOT 204

"Tourbillon - Power Reserve" Breguet, "Tourbillon - Power Reserve", No. 2579, Brevet du 7 Messidor, An 9, Ref. 3657. Made circa 2000. Very fine, 18K yellow gold gentleman's wristwatch with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator, 55-hour power reserve sector, retrograde 24-hour indicator and an 18K yellow gold Breguet deployant clasp. Accompanied by the original box and certificate.

USD 40,000 - 60,000

EUR 30,000 - 45,000

Sold: USD 49,560

C. Three-body, solid, polished, transparent case back with signature on the edge, reeded band, rounded bezel, straight lugs, gold screwed bars, sapphire crystals. D. Guilloché silver with painted radial Roman numerals on a plain eccentric ring dial, secret Breguet signature, aperture for the tourbillon at 6 under a steel bridge, subsidiary seconds on the tourbillon shaft, sectors for the power reserve and the retrograde 24 hour indicator. Blued steel "Breguet" hands. M. No. 699, Cal. 560, gilt brass, hand-engraved, 24 jewels, lateral lever escapement with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator with polished steel cage, monometallic balance adjusted to 6 positions, self-compensating Breguet balance spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 36 mm. Thickness 10 mm. Property of a West Coast Collector


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3-9

Good

Scratched

Movement: 2

Very good

Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

Breguet The Breguet company was founded in Paris in 1775 by a watchmaker of genius, Abraham Louis Breguet, who was born in Neuchatel in 1747. Breguet set up his business concentrating on engineering at the expense of superfluous decoration, he sought to create a new style of watch in which beauty was purely functional and no concessions were made to fashion. This uncompromising style soon found the favor of all European courts. In terms of esthetics, the cases, at first plain, and later with engine-turned patterns, were noted for their balanced proportions and restrained style. The dials were in white enamel and painted with elegant distinctive Arabic numerals known as Breguet numerals. The engine-turned silver dials of the later watches have been retained to this day and are the distinctive mark of watches from the Breguet shops. On a technical level, among Breguet's inventions, the most important ones are the "pare-chute" shock absorber; the temperature-compensation curb on the balance spring index; the ruby cylinder known as over hanging the cylinder escapement, the "échappement naturel" : the constant force escapement; and most importantly, the "tourbillon" regulator, which ensured a steady rate irrespective of the position adopted by the watch. These inventions earned Breguet the title of father of Modern Horology. The renown of the Breguet company survived the death of its founder. For more than two centuries the name Breguet has stood for quality, elegance and distinction. In 1999, the Breguet company was purchased by the largest watch manufacturer in the world, the Swatch Group, and Nicolas G. Hayek, a legend of the modern Swiss Industry, has personally taken over the management of Breguet which, under his guidance, is undergoing one of the most impressive developments of its history. Breguet