$18,400
"Montre à Tact" Andersen, Genève, "Montre à Tact", No. 21/30. Idea and design by Walter Haselberger. Made in a limited edition of 30 examples in 2004. Very fine, rare and unusual, self-winding, 18K white gold gentleman's "à tact" wristwatch with double time display and an 18K white gold Andersen buckle. Accompanied by a fitted box and certificate. Three-body, solid, polished, reeded band with an aperturebetween the lower lugs displaying the time, straight and curvedlugs, sapphire crystals. Time set with a crown on the case back. "Guilloché" 18K blue gold with hand-engraved depiction ofthe "Arc de Triomphe", large aperture between 10 and 1,displaying the time in Arabic numerals. Cal. modified byAndersen, Genève, mechanical with automatic winding, 25jewels, 40-hour autonomy. Dial, case and movement signed.Diam. 42 mm. Thickness 10 mm. Notes Montre à Tact In Parisian society at the end of the 18th century it was very impolite during a conversation to take out a pocket watch and glance at the dial to read the time. A.L. Breguet decided to end this misery and in 1796 developed his "montre à tact" or the "tactful" watch. His watch had protruding hour markers and could be touched within the pocket to "feel" the time. Walter Haselberger and Svend Andersen developed their version of a “tactful” watch for the modern gentleman. It allows time to be read in a discrete manner without an impolite twist of the wrist. Svend Andersen Born in 1942 in Denmark, Andersen is
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2005-06-15
