The Collection of a European Nobleman
Geneva, May 11, 2008
LOT 75
Gyrotourbillon 1 Jaeger-LeCoultre, "Gyrotourbillon 1", No. 32/75, Ref. 149.6.075. Made in a limited edition of 75 pieces from 2005 with a production limited to 20 pieces per year. Sold on October 16, 2007. Exceptional and highly complicated, large, water-resistant, 8-day going platinum wristwatch with visible Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 177 inclined lightweight, two-cage multi-axis spherical tourbillon, two barrels with sapphire covers, ?marchante? equation of time, perpetual calendar with retrograde month indication, leap-year indication and patented instant date display by means of two retrograde hands, power reserve indication and Jaeger-LeCoultre platinum deployant clasp. Accompanied by a guarantee, instruction booklet and book.
CHF 350,000 - 450,000
EUR 220,000 - 285,000 / USD 350,000 - 450,000
Sold: CHF 415,000
C. Two-body, polished, inclined bezel, concave lugs, setting pushers in the band, transparent back with four screws, sapphire crystals. D. Four-tone, gray, silver and frosted crystal, the upper half with brushed silver chapter ring for mean time and equation of time with radial black Arabic numerals, outer minute track, the transparent center exposing the equation of time mechanism, elliptical frosted crystal border, below the sector for the date with two retrograde hands with instantaneous exchange occuring on the 16th, the lower half with aperture to view the tourbillon, sector for the perpetual calendar month indication on the left, sector for power-reserve indication on the right. Blued steel épée hands, equation of time hand with gold sun tip, blued steel seconds hand fixed to the top pivot of the tourbillon carriage. M. Cal. 177, rhodium-plated, fausses cotes and oeil-de-perdrix decoration, 21,600 vibrations per hour, 117 jewels, two barrels providing linear transmission of power, sapphire covers to reduce mainspring drag, perpetual calendar indicator, applied plaque engraved "Madrid -1h 15' ", one-minute rotating spherical tourbillon carriage machined from a solid block of aircraft quality aluminum to reduce weight, two 14K gold screws for poising, jeweled suspension, inner titanium platform rotating once per 24 seconds (2.5 times per minute), steel inserts for screw holes, free-sprung 14K gold balance and adjusting screws, lateral lever escapement, blued steel Breguet balance spring with overcoil, beveled third wheel and beveled fixed inclined wheel for the tourbillon to rotate around, shock absorbers on all axis pivots. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 43 mm. Thickness 15.3 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: |
|
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 1 |
As new |
Dial: 1-01 |
As new HANDS Original |
Notes
The barrels are capped with sapphire crystal to reduce friction and to permit viewing of the mainsprings. This watch also has a true equation of time mechanism, a very unusual feature in a wristwatch. Most importantly, three new patent mechanisms are incorporated in this watch:
The Spherical Tourbillon The caliber 177 is a dual-axis tourbillon of extremely lightweight construction, weighing only 0.035 grams. This is acheived by the outer cage being machined from aviation-grade aluminium and the inner one of titanium. The outer cage rotates at a speed of one revolution per 60 seconds and the inner at a rate of 24 seconds or 2.5 times per minute, making an extremely graceful display and allowing full visibility of the gold balance.
Double Retrograde Date This is a very intriguing and exciting mechanism that works in an ingenious manner: one hand is in use for the first half of the month and the other waits in the wings at the left hand side until the changeover, which happens on the 16th of the month. Throughout the day the mechanism stores small amounts of energy from the movement and releasing it in one go at midnight in one instantaneous jump - commonly called the "whip". The advantage of this mechanism is that the calendar functions work without having any adverse effect upon the timekeeping of the watch.
Perpetual Calendar Eric Coudray decided not to simply add a standard perpetual calendar module to the caliber, instead he designed an entirely new patented mechanism which makes the necessary corrections to the day, date and month for every day of the year of a four-year cycle.