Exceptional Horological Sale Celebrat...

Hotel Noga Hilton, Geneva, Apr 24, 2004

LOT 299

The Raven Vacheron & Constantin, Genève, movement No. 682192, Ref. 43060-1. Produced in a very few examples in the late 1990s. Very fine and extremely rare, self-winding, water-resistant, 18K yellow gold gentleman's wristwatch with cloisonné enamel dial and an 18K yellow gold Vacheron Constantin buckle. Accompanied by the Extract from the Archives.

CHF 20,000 - 26,000

EUR 12,600 - 16,400 / USD 15,600 - 20,300

Sold: CHF 23,000

C. three-body, solid, polished, hinged case back, rounded band and wide bezel, concave lugs, sapphire crystal.D. cream enamel background, decorated with a rook on a fruiting bough in champlevé enamel, inlaid gold dot indexes. Yellow gold "Dauphine" hands.M. Cal. 1120/2, stamped with the Geneva Quality Hallmark, rhodium-plated, "fausses-côtes" decoration, 36 jewels, lever escapement, monometallic balance, shock-absorber, self-compensating flat balance-spring skeletonized rotor with 21K gold segment, pusher on the band to open the back cover.Dial, case and movement signed.Diam. 39 mm


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image
Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 2

Very good
Movement: 2

Very good
Dial: 2 - 01

Notes

This watch is from a small series of watches made in the late 1990s. Since 1994, Vacheron Constantin has sought to showcase the various specialized applied arts used in watchmaking, the "Métiers d?Art". One of the most important of these is the art of dialmaking, and specifically the decoration of the dial. The art of enamel was featured when Vacheron Constantin commemorated the 400th anniversary of the death of Gérard Mercator in 1994, with the famous "Mercator" series of watches with painted on enamel, cloisonné and cham-levé enamel dials. The success of the Mercator series encouraged the firm to continue to produce small series of watches with enamel dials, including the "Audubon" series, of which this watch is an example. The dials of these watches were inspired by the drawings of John James Audubon (1785-1851), well-known American naturalist and painter.