Important Collectors Watches, Pocket ...
Geneva, May 10, 2009
LOT 240
Tourbillon No 3 Blancpain, "JB 1735 - Tourbillon", No. 3. Made in the 1990s. Very fine and rare, 18K yellow gold wristwatch with 8-day power reserve, visible one-minute tourbillon regulator with off-centred balance, date and an 18K yellow gold Blancpain deployant clasp. Accompanied by a wooden fitted box.
CHF 22,000 - 32,000
USD 20,000 - 28,000 / EUR 15,000 - 21,000
C. Three-body, solid, polished, stepped bezel, undercut curved band, the back with aperture for the visible tourbillon cage. D. White porcelain with applied yellow gold radial Roman numerals, subsidiary dials with painted Arabic numerals for the power-reserve indication and the date, aperture for the visible tourbillon cage with in-line escapement. Yellow gold feuille hands. M. Cal. 9''', rhodium-plated, fausses cotes decoration, 19 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, 5 adjustments, shock-absorber, selfcompensating flat balance-spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 34 mm. Thickness 8 mm
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 2* |
Very good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 1-01 |
As new HANDS Original |
Notes
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 difficult and complex achievement by any watch manufacturer.