If the Grande & Petite Sonnerie pocket watch is considered the Himalaya of watchmaking and collecting, then in wristwatch format, we are probably reaching the zenith of the horological stratosphere.
The present Grande & Petite Sonnerie wristwatch, fresh to the auction market – from the same collection as the other three Philippe Dufour timepieces we have the pleasure of offering - is stupendous in more ways than one.
Bearing movement number n°1, this is not only the very first wristwatch ever made by Phillipe Dufour, it is also the world’s first Grande & Petite Sonnerie wristwatch ever made, increasing its collectability even further if such an occurrence is possible.
After having worked on his unique Grande & Petite Sonnerie pocket watch, Dufour decided to tackle the challenge of miniaturizing this extraordinarily complex movement to fit inside a wristwatch.
Research showed Dufour that such a complication did not exist in a wristwatch and to mark the launch of his brand (even though such a term is not really befitting an artisanal one man operation) he decided to woo and surprise the horological cosmos by taking up this difficult task.
In 1992, after three years of strenuous work, calculating tolerances, designing bridges, gears and pinions, testing chimes and functionality, Philippe Dufour presented a world première: the present watch, a Grande & Petite Sonnerie wristwatch in yellow gold, bearing movement N°1. The same year Dufour joined the Académie des Horlogers et Créatures Indépendants (AHCI), a group of independent watchmakers having joined forces to promote the art of artisanal watchmaking and whose other prestigious members comprised of George Daniels and François-Paul Journe.
Dufour made four Grande & Petite Sonnerie wristwatches with grand feu enamel dials (he also made a very small number of examples with an openwork dial), the first in yellow gold, pink and white gold as well as in platinum.
Despite the extremely complex movement, Dufour made the watch easy to use. The crown is wound one way for the movement and the other way for the striking mechanism, the repeating is activated by depressing a button in the crown and desired sonnerie mode (Grande Sonnerie, Petite Sonnerie, Silent and Strike) is chosen by positioning the two small sliding levers in the band.
Like its elder pocket watch sibling, the movement of the present watch is jaw dropping in its sheer beauty where every bridge, every screw, every gear tooth has been individually finished. Where many would see ‘excellent’ in a finished part, Dufour would only see ‘very good’, thus discarding the component and starting anew until the slightest angle on a screwhead would fit his exacting standards. This can explain why each Grande & Petite Sonnerie wristwatch took close to two years to complete.
Is it even necessary to point out that the chimes of the present watch are loud, crisp, elegant and in every way in line with the sheer sophistication of this timepiece?
The present Grande & Petite Sonnerie wristwatch N°1 is the equivalent to the first oeuvres by DaVinci, Picasso or Basquiat: game changing and genre shifting works of a genius.
