Collector's Pocket Watches, Wristwatc...

Noga Hilton, Geneva, Apr 12, 2003

LOT 530

PerpetuelleBreguet, No. 195/3759, Montre Perpetuelle, started circa An 5, sold to Monsieur Henry Perkins on May 28, 1821 for 5000 francs.Extremely important and rare, 18K gold, minute-repeating self-winding perpetuelle with 60-hour power reserve, ball bearings, and free-sprung helical balance spring in Breguet Morocco fitted box, accompanied by a certificate, made on June 3, 1927.

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Sold: CHF 1,048,500

C. Two-body, collar form, the whole engine-turned in grains d'orge pattern with polished circle on the back cover.D. Enamel, made by Morimont, No. 267, secret signature, Breguet numerals, outer minute star track, subsidiary seconds, up-and-down indicator at 10:30. Mounted to gilt brass à bate levée ring. Blued steel Breguet hands.M. 47.10 mm. (21'''), gilt brass 3/4 plate, two going barrels, tandem winding with wolf-tooth winding gears, five-wheel train, 20 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, three-arm steel and special alloy compensation balance, lamina segments terminated with a thread for platinum temperature nuts, three small platinum mean time screws, blued steel helical free-sprung balance spring with both terminal curves, with adjustable screw fixed collet, lift mostly on the pallets, no draw, small oil retenton slots in escape wheel teeth, single steel trapezoidal roller table working between two upright gold pins mounted at the end of the fork, long fork with banking over the escape wheel arbor with U-shaped end, convex entry pallet, concave the exit one to equalize both lifts, unusual steel friction-fit plate for mounting the stud (beat adjustment plate), early-form parachute on both pivots. Half-ogival platinum weight swinging on ball bearing rollers between two spring-loaded steel rollers mounteto the case with a stop mechanism triggered when fully wound, the weight jeweled with endstones, the next wheel also jeweled, Breguet-type repeating mechanism with all-or-nothing and fixed star wheel, repeating with two hammers on a short gong fixed to the case by depressing the pendant, tone adjustment screw in the bate levée ring.Signed "Breguet" with both serial numbers on the dial ring, dial signed Breguet, also with secret signature "No. 195 Breguet". Diam. 53 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 2
Movement: 2
Dial: 3 - 01

Notes

One of the famous early perpetuelles for which Breguet became so famous. The watch is described and illustrated in "The Art of Breguet" by George Daniels, fig. 117. It is one of the very few perpetuelles to survive with its original dial. The watch is also very highly jeweled, and features ball bearings for the weight and jeweled bearing for its arbor, it also has a very carefully executed escapement with a special Breguet alloy. Breguet did not use steel-brass laminas in his early compensatiobalances, he used steel-silver or steel-platinum. The watch has a free-sprung helical balance spring, used by Breguet in his best perpetuelles. The balance stud is set on a friction-fit steel ring, allowing for easy beat adjustment without taking the balance out of the watch.Breguet himself never claimed to be the inventor of the perpetuelle ( the name he gave to his self-winding watches), the earliest being produced in Switzerland by Abraham Louis Perrelet around 1770. These first examples were unsuccessful due to the inadequacy of the winding system, which required the wearer to proceed virtually at a run in order to keep the movement sufficiently wound. Breguet's design was revolutionary by comparison, and incorporated several new "inventions" that were far aheadof their time: two barrels to enable lighter mainsprings to be used, a carefully balanced "weight" reacting to the slightest movement, and an additional train wheel to provide a going-period of up to 60 hours.The result was a watch that could be used by a person leading a relatively inactive life, that required only a short time to recharge itself sufficiently to continue working, and that could be left unattended for more than two days. The majority of his perpetuelle watches, even from the first series, were constructed on the principle of the garde-temps, with the main pivots jeweled, a detached escapement, and the balance with temperature compensation and elastic suspension (shock protection) onoth pivots. Furthermore, they were fitted with a quarter, or even minute-repeating mechanism, a state of winding indicator, and in some cases a phase of the moon dial. Most of these innovations were unknown in France at the time, and until the invention of the wristwatch, were considered the ultimate refinements which could be incorporated in an automatic watch. It is little wonder that such a watch brought much fame to its creator, with the majority being purchased by the most notable people ofthe day.Perpetuelles were among the most sought-after Breguets and cost an average of FF4000, a very large amount for a watch at the time. This one was sold for 5000 Francs!