Important Collectors Wristwatches, P...
Hong Kong,the Ritz Carlton Hotel,harbour Room, 3rd Floor, Nov 25, 2006
LOT 168
?Miniature Minute Repeater & Perpetual Calendar? Audemars Piguet, Brassus & Genève, Made for Cooke & Kelvey, London, No. 2630. The case with London hallmarks for 1884. Unique and exceptionally fine, miniature, astronomic, minute-repeating, 18K gold hunting-cased keyless pocket watch with perpetual calendar, moon phase and lunar calendar.
HKD 300,000 - 400,000
USD 40,000 - 50,000 / EUR 30,000 - 40,000
Sold: HKD 377,600
C. Four-body, ?bassine et filets?, by Alfred Stram (master mark),
polished, the back cover engraved with a monogram.
D. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, four subsidiary dials for days of the week, date, months, four year cycle
and subsidiary seconds concentric with phases of the moon
aperture and lunar calendar. Blued steel ?spade? hands.
M. 32mm (14??), frosted gilt, three-quarter plate, calibrated lateral
lever escapement fully jeweled in screwed chatons, going train
jeweled to the center in screwed chatons, diamond endstone, cut
bimetallic compensation balance, free-sprung blued steel
Breguet balance spring, repeating on gongs activated by a slide
on the band.
Dial and movement signed, punched ?AP? on the pillar-plate.
Diam. 42 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: |
|
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3 |
Good |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Notes
Audemars Piguet
Le Brassus and Geneva. The firm was founded in 1875 by two watchmakers, Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet, aged 24 and 22, under the name ?Audemars Piguet, Manufacture d?Horlogerie?. Jules Audemars was born in Le Brassus in 1851, where he was trained by master watchmakers of the area. After his apprenticeship, Audemars began work as a ?repasseur?. In 1874, he moved to Gimel and opened a small business next to his workshop. It did not, however, achieve the success he had hoped for, probably due to the recession which was then beginning. Eighteen months later he decided to return to Le Brassus, hoping to find a situation more in keeping with his exceptional watchmaking skill. Edward Auguste Piguet, born two years after Jules Audemars, received a similar education. Edward completed his formation as a ?repasseur? in the workshops of Charles Capt. The two met in 1875 in Le Brassus. For a time, the two watchmakers worked closely together without legally officializing their partnership. In 1880, they opened a branch in Geneva, where commercial possibilities were the greatest. The Audemars, Piguet & Cie name was finally registered at the Bern "Office technique de l?Edition et de la Publicité" on December, 6, 1882, as producing movements and watch cases. Audemars Piguet & Cie is presented as a manufacture active all year long, with 10 male employees. Due to his exceptional technical abilities, Jules Audemars was the technical manager of the manufacture. He patented several inventions in Switzerland and in the USA, and traveled extensively, particularly to America, where the potential for trade fascinated him. Edward Piguet was the financial specialist of the firm. The two men managed the company together until 1918, when Jules Audemars died at the age of 67. Piguet died the following year. The name Audemars Piguet was to become synonymous with watches of exceptional quality, superb complications and incredibly thin movements. The list of their accomplishments is impressive, to say the least. They manufactured many of the world?s most complicated watches, the majority of which were sold to other manufacturers, who in turn sold them as their own watches. Famous examples are the Universal-Uhr of Uhrenfabrik Union, and the so-called ?grosse piece? which was sold as the ?Astronomical Watch? by Smith & Son Ltd, of London both of which were the most complicated watches in world when they were sold, 1899 and 1914 respectively. From here they went on to produce the world?s smallest five-minute repeating watch (7???), in 1915, the first wristwatches with perpetual calendar and moon phases in 1924, a pocket watch with a movement 1.32 mm thick in 1925, the thinnest lady?s watch in 1960, the thinnest automatic watch, 2.24 mm in 1967, followed three years later by an automatic jump-hour watch with a thickness of 3.05 mm. 1978, 1989 and 1990 saw the size of automatic watches with perpetual calendar reduced from to 3.95 mm to 3,75 mm. The finest example of Audemars Piguet?s quest for thinness came in 1986 with the launching of an automatic watch with Tourbillion regulator. Its overall thickness of 4.8 mm was achieved by setting jewels into the case back and utilizing it as a plate. In 1972 the launch of the ?Royal Oak? marked a turning point in the way watchmakers looked at ?luxury?. Designed by Gerald Genta, the ?Royal Oak? has become one of the most instantly recognizable watches in history, and the Flagship model in the Audemars Piguet portfolio. In its time it has been produced in steel, gold, platinum, tantale, and combinations thereof. It has been set with gems of every description and has housed some of the firm?s most complicated movements. During the ?Quartz Revolution? of the 1970s this watch, more than any other, was responsible for Audemars Piguet?s success. The launch of the Offshore saw a watch that was of a size thought to be unwearable: the gold version with bracelet weighs over 500 grams. However, the resilient Royal Oak once again proved the critics wrong. The 2003 Basel Fair introduced the Royal Oak T3, which dwarfs the Offshore. The last ten years have seen the launch of a wristwatch with carillon and Grande and Petite Sonnerie, as well as the ?Cabinet Watches? which are among the most complicated wristwatches in the world. There is also the ?John Scheffer? minute repeater which is destined to become another of Audemars Piguet?s style icons. Property of the descendants of the original owner, Prince Burman, son of Maharaja Radha Kisore Manikya Badhur.
The desire to miniaturize timepieces is an ideal inherent to the watchmaker?s art. After all, the watch was conceived as a miniaturized table clock suspended from a pendant. In the five centuries which have followed, the drive to create miniature watches has not diminished, in fact it has remained the one challenge that sets the good apart from the great. As early as the 16th century the ability to fit a watch into a ring was sure to win the watchmaker a reputation of excellence amongst the courts of Europe and ensure that his workshop would be a busy one. In modern times the ability to repair these miniature masterpieces has the same effect. The current watch must represent what was an unparalleled accomplishment at its time of manufacture. Much smaller watches are known to exist, however one of 14??? with perpetual calendar, phases of the moon and minute repetition would have been unheard-of. The firm of Audemars Piguet was well known for their ability to create movements of great complexity; this watch is an extraordinary example of their art combining complexity and miniaturization and would have surely been the smallest watch of its type in 1884. Audemars Piguet went on to produce another miniature watch with the same complications for a German retailer in 1890, No. 2683, the location of which is today unknown. One other unsigned watch with a 12??? movement, circa 1890, is known with the same complications (see Antiquorum, Geneva, 24, 25 April 1999, lot 440). With the exception of these three pieces, no other 14??? or smaller watches with the same complications are known to have been manufactured until the 1930s.
Le Brassus and Geneva. The firm was founded in 1875 by two watchmakers, Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet, aged 24 and 22, under the name ?Audemars Piguet, Manufacture d?Horlogerie?. Jules Audemars was born in Le Brassus in 1851, where he was trained by master watchmakers of the area. After his apprenticeship, Audemars began work as a ?repasseur?. In 1874, he moved to Gimel and opened a small business next to his workshop. It did not, however, achieve the success he had hoped for, probably due to the recession which was then beginning. Eighteen months later he decided to return to Le Brassus, hoping to find a situation more in keeping with his exceptional watchmaking skill. Edward Auguste Piguet, born two years after Jules Audemars, received a similar education. Edward completed his formation as a ?repasseur? in the workshops of Charles Capt. The two met in 1875 in Le Brassus. For a time, the two watchmakers worked closely together without legally officializing their partnership. In 1880, they opened a branch in Geneva, where commercial possibilities were the greatest. The Audemars, Piguet & Cie name was finally registered at the Bern "Office technique de l?Edition et de la Publicité" on December, 6, 1882, as producing movements and watch cases. Audemars Piguet & Cie is presented as a manufacture active all year long, with 10 male employees. Due to his exceptional technical abilities, Jules Audemars was the technical manager of the manufacture. He patented several inventions in Switzerland and in the USA, and traveled extensively, particularly to America, where the potential for trade fascinated him. Edward Piguet was the financial specialist of the firm. The two men managed the company together until 1918, when Jules Audemars died at the age of 67. Piguet died the following year. The name Audemars Piguet was to become synonymous with watches of exceptional quality, superb complications and incredibly thin movements. The list of their accomplishments is impressive, to say the least. They manufactured many of the world?s most complicated watches, the majority of which were sold to other manufacturers, who in turn sold them as their own watches. Famous examples are the Universal-Uhr of Uhrenfabrik Union, and the so-called ?grosse piece? which was sold as the ?Astronomical Watch? by Smith & Son Ltd, of London both of which were the most complicated watches in world when they were sold, 1899 and 1914 respectively. From here they went on to produce the world?s smallest five-minute repeating watch (7???), in 1915, the first wristwatches with perpetual calendar and moon phases in 1924, a pocket watch with a movement 1.32 mm thick in 1925, the thinnest lady?s watch in 1960, the thinnest automatic watch, 2.24 mm in 1967, followed three years later by an automatic jump-hour watch with a thickness of 3.05 mm. 1978, 1989 and 1990 saw the size of automatic watches with perpetual calendar reduced from to 3.95 mm to 3,75 mm. The finest example of Audemars Piguet?s quest for thinness came in 1986 with the launching of an automatic watch with Tourbillion regulator. Its overall thickness of 4.8 mm was achieved by setting jewels into the case back and utilizing it as a plate. In 1972 the launch of the ?Royal Oak? marked a turning point in the way watchmakers looked at ?luxury?. Designed by Gerald Genta, the ?Royal Oak? has become one of the most instantly recognizable watches in history, and the Flagship model in the Audemars Piguet portfolio. In its time it has been produced in steel, gold, platinum, tantale, and combinations thereof. It has been set with gems of every description and has housed some of the firm?s most complicated movements. During the ?Quartz Revolution? of the 1970s this watch, more than any other, was responsible for Audemars Piguet?s success. The launch of the Offshore saw a watch that was of a size thought to be unwearable: the gold version with bracelet weighs over 500 grams. However, the resilient Royal Oak once again proved the critics wrong. The 2003 Basel Fair introduced the Royal Oak T3, which dwarfs the Offshore. The last ten years have seen the launch of a wristwatch with carillon and Grande and Petite Sonnerie, as well as the ?Cabinet Watches? which are among the most complicated wristwatches in the world. There is also the ?John Scheffer? minute repeater which is destined to become another of Audemars Piguet?s style icons. Property of the descendants of the original owner, Prince Burman, son of Maharaja Radha Kisore Manikya Badhur.
The desire to miniaturize timepieces is an ideal inherent to the watchmaker?s art. After all, the watch was conceived as a miniaturized table clock suspended from a pendant. In the five centuries which have followed, the drive to create miniature watches has not diminished, in fact it has remained the one challenge that sets the good apart from the great. As early as the 16th century the ability to fit a watch into a ring was sure to win the watchmaker a reputation of excellence amongst the courts of Europe and ensure that his workshop would be a busy one. In modern times the ability to repair these miniature masterpieces has the same effect. The current watch must represent what was an unparalleled accomplishment at its time of manufacture. Much smaller watches are known to exist, however one of 14??? with perpetual calendar, phases of the moon and minute repetition would have been unheard-of. The firm of Audemars Piguet was well known for their ability to create movements of great complexity; this watch is an extraordinary example of their art combining complexity and miniaturization and would have surely been the smallest watch of its type in 1884. Audemars Piguet went on to produce another miniature watch with the same complications for a German retailer in 1890, No. 2683, the location of which is today unknown. One other unsigned watch with a 12??? movement, circa 1890, is known with the same complications (see Antiquorum, Geneva, 24, 25 April 1999, lot 440). With the exception of these three pieces, no other 14??? or smaller watches with the same complications are known to have been manufactured until the 1930s.