THE ART OF BREGUET
Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Apr 14, 1991
LOT 204
"Sympathique" Watch No. 1, accompanied by the Master Clock.
A)Unique gold gentleman's astronomical
wristwatch, with 1 minute tourbillon,
regulator dial, phase and age of the
moon, and winding indicator,
automatically wound and set to exact
time by the accompanying Clock.
Delivered with both gold and leather
bracelets with double deployant
buckles and a pair-case in gold
enabling the wristwatch to be
transformed into pocket watch.
B)Unique gold astronomical clock with
phase and age of the moon, equation of
time, centigrade thermometer, year
calendar with month and date, and
days of the week. Constructed on the
principals of the "garde-temps", with
"remontoire", visible chronometer
escapement and winding indicator.
CHF 0 - 0
Sold: CHF 1,546,250
A)
Case: Wristwatch; 18 ct., circular, massive and
polished with reeded band, the classic Breguet s
with an ingenious quick-release system for
removing and re-mounting the bracelets.
Pocket watch: 18 ct., two body, half-hunting
form, engine-turned à grains d'orge, with aperture
to reveal the dial, the cover opened by a button in
the pendant, and locked closed by a bolt in the
band.
Dial: Regulator type, silvered and engine-turned,
signed: "Breguet No. 1", the subsidiary hour ring
with engraved Roman numerals, outer minute
ring with Arabic 10 minute numerals, and
subsidiary seconds on the edge of the tourbillon
aperture. Sector for the up-and-down scale
calibrated for 36 hours and an aperture for the
moon phase with the age engraved on the border.
Blued-steel Breguet hands.
Movement: Maillechort, 13"', with fausses cOtes
decoration, 23 jewels, lateral lever escapement
and monometallic screw balance. Blued-steel
Breguet autocompensating balance spring. One
minute tourbillon with equidistant three-arm
polished steel carriage driven off the third wheel.
Mechanism for the instantaneous re-setting of the
minute hand to exact time every two T ours
mounted under the dial, and correcting the watch
for a difference of up to plus-or-minus five
minutes, controlled through the winding crown by
the clock, along with the automatic rewinding,
whenever the watch is placed in the location
provided. An autonomy of 24 hours is assured
from a rewinding period of 8 hours.
Diam. 36 mm.
B)
Case: 18 ct., Empire style, glazed on four sides
and hermetically sealed. Applied hand-chased
mounts on all sides, inset against a matted
ground, with stylised flower heads around the
base, the centre motifs terminating with palm
foliage, the flat section corinthian pilasters
capped by sun flowers. Recessed panels and the
top plate all engine-turned à grains d'orge. Spirally
gadrooned bun feet, and turned finials of slightly
flattened form with substantial folding handle
chased with flowers and lotus leaves and
supported by lion heads. Signed on an oval
polished white gold plaque at the base: "Breguet -
Sympathique - No. 1". Calendar adjustment and
hand-setting by means of a female square and
push-pieces inset flush into the side pilasters.
Hinged and rising bezel allowing the watch to be
inserted with either the gold or leather bracelet
still partly attached.
Dial: Silvered and engine-turned, signed: "
Breguet, No. 1", with Roman hour numerals on a
plain reserve. Blued-steel Breguet hands. Giltmetal
engine-turned dial mask, with sectorshaped
apertures for month with date to the left,
week day to the right, and sectors above for
equation of time on the left and bimetallic
thermometer to the right. Moon phase visible at
the back of the wristwatch compartment, with
blue enamel and gold disk, the age engraved on
the border.
Movement: Frosted and gilt brass, eight-day
going, the twin barrels mounted in the base and
wound by a retractable lever below the bottom
plate, providing power for both the clock itself and
Xe winding and hand-setting of the wristwatch.
Remontoire train and the escapement mounted on
a horizontal triangular platform rewinding at
intervals of 5 seconds. Spring detent escapement,
with gold escape wheel, Guillaume balance in
brass and invar, with old and platinum adjusting
screws. Twin helical gold balance springs,
mounted above and below the balance, and
working in apposition. Engraved silvered sector
for up-and-down scale on the movement top
plate.
Dim. 255 x 170 x 125 mm.
Estimate: SFr. * *
Notes
Lot 204 (continued The Sympathique watch represents a final development of the idea originally conceived by Abraham- Louis Breguet during his exile in Switzerland between 1793 and 1795, and about which he wrote to his son: ".......I expect from this the greatest promotion of our fame and fortune." Although the history of their development is discussed in the note for lot 100, it may be summarised as follows: The first examples made in 1795 only set the watch to time. The second type developed circa 1805 set to time and regulated the watch. The third system set to time and wound the watch. All known examples of the last type are fitted to pendulum clocks with the exception of one, made by Rabi in 1812. The most refined and elegant are considered to be those created in gilt bronze cases with constant force escapement and double helical gold balance springs for the horizontal balance, perhaps the most famous being the example bought by Demidoff for the Czar of Russia; another in a simple wooden case was sold to George IV and is now in the Royal collection and currently on view in the British Museum. This latest masterpiece from the House of Breguet is both unique and revolutionary in several aspects of its construction. For the first time the principle of the sympathique has been applied to a wristwatch. Furthermore, the clock runs and performs the required operations to the watch for a period of 8 days, whereas the original balance wheel examples had a duration of 56 hours, even without the addition of a complex calendar and equation of time. A total of approximately 15000 hours were required for its completion, with 35 people involved in its design and construction. The case is made from 471 different pieces, including 91 screws and contains a total weight of gold of approximately 4500 grams. The movement of the clock consists of 680 pieces, the watch 220 pieces, with the various other parts combining to a total of 1400 pieces. The Sympathique watch No. 1 is an unique piece, and no other example of such a complicated form or style will be made again for a minimum of 25 years.
Enlarged view of the clock-escapement A connate wheel of SO teeth drives the pinion cf znheel A. Wheel A engages the fly E and the 'floating' znheel B which is mounted in a carriage on the 'V' draped lever F, pivoted at point C and terminating with a locking pin at point H. This locking pin also extends below the lever and rests on the far side of the spring J. 'Floating' wheel B also engages the pinion of Wheel C, which in t u rn drives the pinion of the escape wheel D. If power is applied to wheel A, the fly E revolves along with wheel B which then draws the lever Firwards (clockwise) patting the spring J under tension. Once the pin H interrupts the fly E, the remontoir train stops. However the lever F is now under load prowl the spring J. Since the pimon of wheel A is locked, the load is transferred by the wheel B to the pinion of Wheel C, which engages to the escape wheel. Lever F retreats as the escapement unlocks until the pin H releases the fly again. Train is 14'400 With 112 seconds beating balance.