Important Collector's Wristwatches, P...
New York, Sep 17, 2009
LOT 116
Gyrotourbillon 1, No. 02/75, First Model sold to the Public Jaeger-LeCoultre, "Gyrotourbillon 1", No. 02/75, case No. 149.6.07. S., Ref. 600.64.20. Made in a limited edition of 75 pieces from 2005, with a production limited to 20 pieces per year. Sold on January 19, 2007. Exceptional and highly complicated, large, water-resistant, 8-day going platinum wristwatch with visible Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 177 with 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, ?1000 Hours Control?, and Jaeger-LeCoultre platinum deployant clasp. Accompanied by a guarantee, fitted box, instruction booklet and loop.
USD 270,000 - 340,000
EUR 190,000 - 240,000 / CHF 290,000 - 370,000
Sold: USD 312,000
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 occurring 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, 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 | |
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Grade: |
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Case: 1 |
As new |
Movement: 1 |
As new |
Dial: 1-01 |
As new HANDS Original |
Notes
The "Gyrotourbillon 1" is probably the most well proportioned tourbillon wristwatch ever made, and the most elegant in operation. It was produced by watchmaker Eric Coudray and designer Magali Metrailler. This watch is a tour de force of watchmaking and contains 600 individual parts, instead of jointly providing power in direct connection with the center wheel as in most two-barrel watches, the Gyrotourbillon barrels actually transmit power via the first to the second in a linear fashion, to provide increased and more even power. The barrels are capped with sapphire crystal to reduce friction and allow viewing of the mainsprings. This watch also has a true equation of time mechanism, a very unusual feature in a wristwatch. 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 achieved by the outer cage being machined from aviation-grade aluminium and the inner one from titanium. The outer cage rotates at a speed of one revolution per 60 seconds and the inner one 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 intriguing and exciting mechanism works in an ingenious manner: one hand is in use for the first half of the month and the other waits in the wings to the left until the changeover, which happens on the 16th of the month.Throughout the day the mechanism stores small amounts of energy from the movement, releasing it all at once at midnight in one instantaneous jump - commonly called the "whip". The advantage of this mechanism is that the calendar functions work without 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.