Breguet - The New York Watch Auction: SIX New York Saturday, June 11, 2022 | Phillips

Create your first list.

Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.

  • Manufacturer: Breguet
    Year: Circa 1995
    Reference No: 3350
    Movement No: No. 283
    Case No: 3195 C
    Model Name: Tourbillon Messidor
    Material: 18K pink gold
    Calibre: Manual, cal. 558, 21 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Leather
    Clasp/Buckle: 18K pink gold Breguet pin buckle
    Dimensions: 35mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement, and buckle signed.

  • Catalogue Essay

    On June 26, 1801, a momentous horological event occurred when Abraham-Louis Breguet was issued a patent for his tourbillon regulator. The history of time has always centered on precision timekeeping, and watchmakers over the centuries have developed means to combat the multitude of factors affecting it, including temperature and magnetism, position and gravity. Breguet sought to minimize gravity’s effects when he observed it greatly influenced the delicate workings of the heart of the watch, the escapement. The tourbillon is a rotating cage within which the escapement is mounted. As it rotates, the positional errors of the movement are averaged out improving the overall precision of the watch. While the patent was issued in 1801, it was not until 1805 that commercialized examples became available, and it has remained over the last 200 years very much the same as when Breguet first revealed it.

    One hundred and ninety years later, Breguet’s modern descendants introduced the reference 3350, available in pink, yellow, and white gold. Classically Breguet, the semi-skeletonized dial is wrought from solid silver and hand-guillochéd. The ornate engraving that acts as a backdrop to the tourbillon cage is intricately and meticulously hand-done as well, and is carried over to the finishing on the movement. These details, as well as the Nouvelle Lemania ebauche are the trademarks of Daniel Roth, who was at the time the Master Watchmaker of Breguet working tirelessly to reinvigorate the brand. These timepieces bear the DNA seen later on Roth’s eponymous pieces.

    An early example with a warm tone to the dial, and preserved in excellent condition, this Tourbillon Messidor embodies the spirit of traditional watchmaking while giving a nod towards what the future would bring – the rise of the independents.

  • Artist Biography

    Breguet

    Swiss • 1775

    Established in 1775 by Abraham Louis Breguet, widely considered the greatest watchmaker of all time, the storied brand continues to thrive in the modern era, creating exceptional high-end watches as the Swatch Group's premier prestige brand. Some of the most important and lasting inventions in watchmaking are attributed to Abraham Louis Breguet, including the tourbillon, shock resistance and the use of hammers and gongs employed in nearly all minute repeating watches made since.

    Eighteenth and nineteenth century Breguet pocketwatches are especially sought-after by collectors, and many of them were made for the elite of European society, including Napoléon and Marie Antoinette. Key wristwatches from the twentieth century include oversized dress watches, two-register chronographs, triple calendars and Type XX aviator's chronographs made for the French military and civilians.

    View More Works

55

Ref. 3350
An elegant and exceptional pink gold tourbillon wristwatch with guilloché dial

Circa 1995
35mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement, and buckle signed.

Estimate
$15,000 - 25,000 
CHF14,900-24,900
€14,400-24,000
HK$118,000-196,000
S$20,900-34,900

Sold for $56,700

Contact Specialist

Paul Boutros

Head of Watches, Americas

+1 (212) 940-1293

WatchesNY@Phillips.com

 

Isabella Proia

Head of Sale, New York

+1 (212) 940 1285

iproia@phillips.com

The New York Watch Auction: SIX

New York Auction 11-12 June 2022