Towards the mid-20th century, Vacheron Constantin produced only 36 examples of minute-repeating wristwatches, in pink, yellow, white gold and in platinum: 17 examples beginning in 1942, 9 beginning in 1944 and 10 beginning in 1951. Of these, only ten examples of large extra-flat minuterepeating wristwatches had a 13''' movement (3.1 thickness, total thickness without glass 5.8 mm): 8 in yellow gold, one in pink gold, and two in platinum, including the present watch. A similar watch, bearing the number 501910, was sold by Antiquorum, October 11 and 12, 2003, lot 140. Collectors and professionals the world over consider this to be the most beautiful minute-repeating wristwatch made during the last 70 years. The teardrop lugs of these models are a unique and distinctive characteristic of the company?s wristwatches, and were used for watches ranging from the simple timepiece (Ref. 4218, Ref. 4412) to the most complicated (Ref. 4241 with full calendar and moon phases; Ref. 4261 with minute-repeat). What is a Minute Repeater?
A minute repeating watch tells the time both visually and audibly. A slide on the side of the case, usually near the 9, will activate two hammers in the movement. These hammers strike two gongs curled within the case. First one hammer strikes a gong of lower tonality; it counts out the hours. Then both hammers strike both gongs alternatively to count out the quarter hours after that hour, and then the second hammer alone striking a gong of higher tonality counts out the minutes after that quarter hour. The repeating mechanism was developed by Daniel Quare, who in 1687 patented a mechanism that sounded the hours and the quarter hours. The early repeaters used bells. At the end of the 18th century, two bent-wire gongs became the more popular mechanism. The first minute repeater wristwatch was produced by Omega in 1892; it was a model with a roundshaped case. Since that time, most watchmakers and manufacturers have created quarter and minute repeating watches. From the beginning of the 20th century many of the most important creators, watchmakers or manufacturers, have produced minute repeating wristwatches, always in limited editions, for the most sophisticated collectors in the world. This watch was previously sold by Antiquorum, April 3, 2005, lot 41.