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

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  • Manufacturer: Breguet
    Year: 1926
    Movement No: No. 1262
    Case No: No. 1262
    Material: 18K white gold
    Calibre: Manual, cal. 10’’’, 18 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Leather
    Dimensions: 26mm square
    Signed: Case, dial, and movement signed and numbered.

  • Catalogue Essay

    Abraham Louis Breguet established himself as one of the world’s greatest watchmakers with complicated movements and technical innovations, which are still used today, and while the Jump Hour mechanism is attributed to the Austrian engineer Josef Pallweber in 1883, this lovely early 20th century Breguet Jump Hour wristwatch is an exceptionally rare vintage timepiece from 1926 with a surprisingly contemporary and modern aesthetic.
    Watchmakers have long sought novel and unorthodox ways of expressing time, and the jump hour was a creative and elegant way to maximize legibility of the current hour. Generally, with jump-hour watches, the hour hand is replaced by an aperture with a disk featuring the 12 hours on it. As the minute hand sweeps across the dial when it moves from 59 to 60, the hour jumps from one hour to the next. Jump Hours were briefly en vogue in the mid-18th century, and continued to be made in small numbers throughout the 19th century. During the Art Deco period, jumping hour timepieces had a renaissance and were found on both pocket watches and wristwatches. During the Roaring Twenties, jump hour wristwatches were produced by eminent names of watchmaking, including Breguet, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin, but the fashion declined with the Great Depression, and definitively ended by World War 2 only to see a rebirth in the early 1990s.
    The present lot is a wonderful example of a jump hour watch from the early 1900s. The oversized, square-shaped case is fitted with wire lugs providing a slim profile. While many jump hour watches feature the hour aperture at the 12 positions, this Breguet has the aperture at the 6 giving it a unique design layout rarely seen in horology. The watch remains in outstanding condition with a lovely patina having developed on its case, indicating it has remained cherished for nearly a century.
    Breguet confirms the watch was made in 1926 and sold for 5,000 Francs to Monsieur Haïtas on January 18, 1928. Research indicates that during the 20th century, only approximately 50 jump hour watches were manufactured by Breguet in varying case shapes, making the present example a rare trophy watch for the connoisseur.

  • 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.

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Σ89

A very rare and attractive white gold Art Deco square-shaped jump hour wristwatch

1926
26mm square
Case, dial, and movement signed and numbered.

Estimate
$25,000 - 50,000 
CHF24,900-49,800
€24,000-48,000
HK$196,000-392,000
S$34,900-69,800

Sold for $47,880

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