Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Geneva, May 15, 2016

LOT 286

ULYSSE NARDIN "ASTROLABIUM GALILEO GALILEI" YELLOW GOLD Ulysse Nardin, Locle, Suisse, "Astrolabium Galileo Galilei", No. 126, Ref. 931-22. Sold in January 1989. Very fine and unusual, astronomic, self-winding, water-resistant, 18K yellow gold wristwatch with astrolabe, days and months, and an 18K yellow gold Ulysse Nardin deployant buckle. Accompanied by the original Ulysse Nardin wooden deck-type box, certificate and instruction booklet.

CHF 13,000 - 19,000

HKD 104,000 - 153,000 / USD 13,600 - 20,000

Sold: CHF 17,500

Three-body, solid, polished, rounded band, case back with four screws, rounded bezel graduated with engraved alternating Roman and Arabic numerals for the 24 hours, fluted lugs, recessed crown. Gray and silver, off-center gold disk with division for the 12 signs of the Zodiac, overlapping rings representing the following: equinoctial time, local time, the months, signs of the zodiac, the elevation and azimuth of the sun and the moon on the planisphere, the diurnal and nocturnal hours, the moon phases, the aspect of the sun and the moon in relation to each other. Blued steel baton hands. Cal. UN90, gilt with oeil de paris decoration, 33 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, shock absorber, self-compensating fl at balance spring, index regulator.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 2-8

Very good

Slightly scratched
Movement: 2*

Very good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 2-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

Case and movement signed. DIAM. 40 mm. THICKNESS 13 mm. ASTROLABIUM GALILEO GALILEI This wristwatch was the first of the Trilogy series, which was introduced in 1985. Named after GALILEO GALILEI, it is a tribute to his astronomical discoveries. This timepiece was the first in the world to have all of the following complications: time of day; perpetual calendar; moon phases; moon-rise and moon-set; sunrise and sunset; dawn and dusk; signs of the zodiac; and Solar and Lunar eclipses. The most complicated function is the ability of the watch to indicate the positions of sun, moon and stars, as seen from the Earth. Also shown on the dial is the Tropic of Capricorn. All of the numerous features of the watch are controlled through the single winding crown. Due to its complexity, as it was based on the astrolabe, it was featured on the cover of the Guiness Book of World Records and was cited in the book. GALILEO GALILEI (1564 -1642) Galilei used the telescope to discover that the planets had moons, the Moon had craters and the Sun had spots. He championed the idea that the planets moved around the Sun and supported this theory with his use of the telescope. His observations of the movements of the moons and the planets changed the notions of the heavens and influenced the future of astronomy. Galileo Galilei is also attributed with discovering the principle of isochronism in the early 1600s. Galileo claimed that for pendulums of equal lengths, the oscillation time is constant and isochronous, regardless of the amplitude. Galilei applied this theory to a clock, that was extremely precise