Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, Oct 15, 2006

LOT 35

?Perpétuelle à Répétition, Echappement Libre? Breguet, No. 15, sold circa 1793. Extremely fine and very important, 18K gold ?perpétuelle? self-winding garde-temps pocket watch with double barrels, lever escapement, quarter repeating à toc and 60-hour power reserve indication.

CHF 300,000 - 350,000

EUR 190,000 - 220,000 / USD 245,000 - 285,000

Sold: CHF 501,800

C. Two-body, ?perpétuelle? type, No. 1120, by Amy Gros (master mark), polished, concealed hinge. D. White enamel by F. Cave, Breguet numerals, outer star minute indexes and lozenge quarter-hour indexes, subsidiary seconds, powerreserve sector between 9 and 12, mounted to a gilt brass ring. Blued steel ?Breguet? hands. M. 47 mm. (21???), gilt brass 3/4 plate, two going barrels, tandem winding with brass wolf-tooth winding gears, four-wheel train, straight-line lever escapement, four-arm jeweled and capped bimetallic compensation balance with a threaded pin at the free ends for platinum temperature nuts, two platinum mean time screws, blued steel helical balance spring with terminal curves, single roller table with inserted jewel working between two upright steel pins mounted at the end of the fork, long fork with banking over the escape wheel pinion, parachute on top pivot, micrometric screw regulator, half-ogival platinum weight swinging between two spring-loaded rollers mounted in the case with a stop mechanism triggered when fully wound, repeating with a single hammer on a short gold block in the case activated by depressing the pendant. Dial and dial plate signed. Diam 54 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-22-01

Good

Later original

HANDS Original

Notes

This watch was in the Durand-Ruel Collection and exchanged for a Breguet Tourbillon by Cecil (Sam) Clutton. (See Collector's Collection, C. Clutton, pages 4 and 58). Breguet, "Perpétuelles". Breguet himself never claimed to be the inventor of the ?perpétuelle? (the name he gave to his self-winding watches), the earliest being produced in Switzerland by Abraham Louis Perrelet around 1770. These first examples were unsuccessful due to the inadequacy of the winding system, which virtually required the wearer to proceed at a run in order to keep the movement sufficiently wound. Breguet?s design was revolutionary by comparison, and incorporated several new ?inventions? that were far ahead of their time: two barrels to enable lighter mainsprings to be used, a carefully balanced ?weight? of platinum reacting to the slightest movement, and an additional train wheel to provide a going-period of up to 60 hours. The result was a watch that could be used by somebody leading a relatively inactive life, needing only a short time to recharge itself sufficiently to continue working, and could be left unattended for more than two days. The majority of his perpétuelle watches, even from the first series, were constructed on the principle of the garde-temps, with the main pivots jeweled, a detached escapement, and the balance with temperature compensation and elastic suspension (shock protection) on both pivots. Furthermore, they were fitted with a quarter, or even a minute-repeating mechanism, a state of winding indicator, and in some cases a phase of the moon dial. Most of these innovations were unknown in France at the time, and until the invention of the wristwatch were considered the ultimate refinements able to be incorporated in an automatic watch. It is therefore little wonder that the introduction of such a watch brought much fame to its creator, with the majority being purchased by the most notable people of the day. Perpétuelles were one of the most sought-after of Breguet?s watches and cost an average of FF 4000, a very large amount for a watch at the time.