Important Collector's Watches, Pocket...
Geneva, Nov 11, 2007
LOT 126
Répétition Minutes Breguet, ?Répétition Minutes?, No. 1427, movement No. 3305, Ref. 3187. Made in a limited edition of 6 examples in 1997. Very fine and rare, minute-repeating, 18K yellow gold wristwatch with regulator dial and an 18K yellow gold Breguet buckle.
CHF 130,000 - 150,000
EUR 80,000 - 90,000 / USD 110,000 - 125,000
C. Three-body, solid, polished, reeded band, straight lugs, gold screwed bars, transparent case back, sapphire crystals. D. Guilloché silver with outer minute graduation on a plain reserve and Arabic numerals for the 15, 30 and 45 minutes, subsidiary ring dial with painted radial Roman numerals for the hours at 12. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Cal. 567, rhodium-plated, fausses côtes decoration, 30 jewels, straight line lever escapement, monometallic balance adjusted to 5 positions, shock-absorber, self-compensating Breguet balancespring, swan neck micrometer regulator, repeating on gongs by activating slide on the band. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 37 mm. Thickness: 10 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 2 |
Very good |
Dial: 1-01 |
As new HANDS Original |
Notes
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 will count out the hours. Then both hammers will 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 will count out the minutes after that quarter hour. The repeating mechanism was developed by Daniel Quare.
In 1687, he had 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. In 1892, the first minute repeater wristwatch was produced by Omega, a model with a round-shaped case.