Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces

Hong Kong, Aug 25, 2012

LOT 209

BREGUET REF. 3357 TOURBILLON WHITE GOLD Breguet Tourbillon, Brevet du 7 Messidor An 9, Tourbillon, No. 2800, case No. 2993R, Ref. 3357. Made in the 1990's. Very fine and rare, 18K white gold wristwatch with visible one-minute tourbillon regulator with an 18K white gold Breguet deployant clasp.

HKD 200,000 - 300,000

USD 26,000 - 40,000 / EUR 21,000 - 32,000

Sold: HKD 325,000

C. Three-body, solid, polished, reeded band, transparent case back, straight lugs with gold screws bar, sapphire crystals. D. Two-tone 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 and case signed, movement signed and numbered 2800. Diam. 36 mm. Thickness 9 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 2-9

Very good

Scratched

Movement: 1*

As new

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

What is a Tourbillon ? 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 diffi cult and complex achievement by any watch manufacturer