Important Collectors Watches, Pocket ...
Geneva, Mar 29, 2009
LOT 178
Platinum and Pink Gold Tourbillon Breguet, Brevet du 7 Messidor An 9, ?Tourbillon No. 012?, No. 425, Ref. 3450. Made circa 1993. Very fine and rare, platinum and 18K pink gold wristwatch with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator with a platinum Breguet buckle. Accompanied by a Breguet box.
CHF 35,000 - 45,000
USD 30,000 - 40,000 / EUR 25,000 - 30,000
Sold: CHF 60,000
C. Three-body, bicolor, polished, reeded band surrounded by two pink gold rims, transparent back, platinum case, straight lugs, sapphire crystals. D. Guilloché silver with painted black radial Roman numerals on an off-center plain reserve showing the Breguet secret signature, visible tourbillon cage on the 6. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Cal. 558, hand-engraved along with the inscription "Brevet du 7 Messidor An 9", 21 jewels, lateral lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 6 positions, self-compensating Breguet balance spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 36 mm. Thickness 9 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 2* |
Very good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 1-01 |
As new 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.