57,500 CHF
The George Prat So-called "American Calendar" Breguet, No. 1726. Sold on February 1, 1929, to George Prat. Very elegant and extremely rare 18K white gold, Art Deco, thin, keyless, digital display dress watch with perpetual calendar. Three-piece, brushed bezels and back polished band. The front silver and brushed, lower part with aperture for the Arabic hours, above sector for the minutes, the top with apertures for days of the week, date and months. 37 mm (17’’’), "fausses côtes" decoration, 18 jewels, straight line lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance with Breguet balance spring.Signed on dial and case.Diam. 45 mm. Notes From an European Gentleman The jumping-hours, or digital watch, better than any other, captured the innovative spirit of Art Deco, in that all superfluous ornaments are eliminated. It is an example of the freedom of vision tied to the purity of line and a new state of mind. The outpouring of new ideas that transformed architecture, fashion, costume, and the life-style of millions of people, left its mark on horology as well. It is true, without a doubt, that the most beautiful and elegant examples come from the Art Deco period. Even the means of reading the hour was revised, as designers and stylists, in search of an extreme elegance, replaced hands and dials with small windows through which appeared the hours and minutes. The former were jump-hours, and the minutes slipped inexorably past in an illustration of the eternal flow of
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2004-04-24
