Important Collector's Wristwatches & ...

Grand Havana Room, Sep 22, 2004

LOT 33

Urban Jürgensen, Copenhagen, No. 150082. Produced in the late 1990s. Very fine and rare, astronomic, self-winding, water-resistant, platinum gentleman?s wristwatch with square button chronograph, registers, 50-hour autonomy, triple date, moon phases and a platinum Urban Jürgensen buckle.

USD 20,000 - 25,000

EUR 16,000 - 20,000

Sold: USD 33,350

C. Two-body, solid, polished and brushed, rounded stepped bezel, teardrop lugs, sapphire crystal. D. "Guilloché" black with silver painted radial Roman numerals on an outer plain reserve, subsidiary silver ring dials for theseconds, the 12-hour and 30-minute registers, apertures for the days of the week, of the month, the months and the moon phases. White gold "Breguet" hands. M. Cal. 410Z, rhodium plated, "oeil-de-perdrix" decoration, 31 jewels, straight line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions, shock-absorber, self-compensating flat balance-spring.Dial and case signed.Diam. 40 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent

Case: 2

Very good

Movement: 1

As new

Dial: 1 - 01

Notes

"Chronomètre à Résonance" An exceptional and unique creation in chronometer engineering, the Resonance System Chronometer exhibits the so-called resonance, a phenomenon of physics duly applied to the science of horology. A world first, this wristwatch uses two entirely independent movements which inter-operate in harmony with each other for a wearing precision that exceeds the established limits for mechanical wristwatches. The physical phenomenon of resonance forms an integral part of our daily lives, yet we scarcely pay any attention to it. When searching for a specific program on our radio, the radio crackles because the waves selected have not encountered other waves, those of the radio transmitter, until they become harmonized. In the past, apoleon once forbade his troops to march over a bridge for fear of it collapsing from the effects of resonance! Although this phenomenon is proven and acknowledged, it is still difficult to explain. Until recently years, the phenomenon of resonance was not well understood, but had already been pointed out as early as the 17th century by Christian Huygens in particular, among several other scientists. For instance, the high precision Constant Pressure regulators, still in use less than 40 years ago at the Observatory of Paris for the Bureau International de l'heure and for the radio broad- cast time signal sent from the Eiffel Tower, were fitted in the Catacombes at a depth of 26 meters to eliminate fluctuations in temperature and atmospheric pressure. They were also set in separate rooms in order to avoid any resonance interference. However, as early as the end of the 18th century, few clockmakers among the most eminent found a way to take advantage of the success of such a phenomenon by synchronizing the pendulums of regulators fitted with two independent movements. Even more so, when applied to a watch, it ensures exceptional operating reliability and precision. When you make a sudden movement, the two movements clash in opposite directions and gradually come to operate in harmony as a result of the force of resonance. As they are inter-attracted, they oscillate together in union, an invisible wave linking the two balances. This timepiece is the only precision chronometer that is not affected by the movements of the wearer. The balances oscillate in natural opposition, and therefore absorb the shocks and compensate the disturbances in order to ensure identical regularity, whether it is worn or not. Antiquorum sold the prototype of this watch in Geneva, on October 23, 1999, lot 75.