Important Collector's, Watches, Wrist...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Oct 15, 2000

LOT 263

Tiffany & Co, New York, No. 3481, circa 1890.Fine and unusual 18K gold, keyless, split-seconds chronograph watch with return-to-zero, direct quarter-second 'foudroyante'.

CHF 6,500 - 7,500

USD 3,600 - 4,200

Sold: CHF 7,475

C. Four-body, massive, polished with reeded bezels. Back cover monogrammed. Hinged gold cuvette. D. White enamel with Arabic numerals, outer Arabic minute and chronograph rings, sunk quarter-second 'diablotine'. Blued-steel 'Breguet' hands. Snap-on fit. M. 19???, nickel, half-plate, 'fausses côtes' decoration, highly jeweled, counterpoised straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic balance, palladium Breguet balance spring, gold pallet fork, gold double roller table, Patek Philippe type micrmetric cam regulator patented on 13 January 1891, the motion work driven by off-center second wheel, 'foudroyante' driven by a clutch from the third wheel with a flirt acting on a 30-teeth gear mounted on the escape wheel arbor.Signed on the dial, movement and case. The case stamped 'TIFFANY & CO, MAKERS', the movement engraved with three patent dates: Jan. 4.87, May 15.88 and Aug. 21.88, with Patek Philippe micrometric index patented on 13 January 1891. Diam. 51.5 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3 - 5*
Dial: 4 - 8 - 04

Notes

The direct 'diablotine' mechanism was invented by Ami LeCoultre from Le Brassus, Switzerland, and is based on his patent No. 355403 of Jan. 4, 1887 for a 'split second chronograph based on a hairspring' and improved as per Swiss patent No. 163 of 26 Jan. 1889. The invention is based on a clutch mechanism mounted on the 3rd wheel and driven by a small spiral spring, similar to a balance spring. The clutch is geared and drives a pinion engaging the chronograph wheel, by means of an intermediate whel. A very elegant and clever design eliminating the need for the second train.Ami LeCoultre, a watchmaker and constructeur at the end of the 19th century, was one of the best specialists in complicated watches. He joined Piguet brothers and founded LeCoultre-Piguet, a company that specialized in manufacturing complicated movements, mainly for others.