223,500 CHF
Timekeeper with 1 ComplicationVacheron & Constantin, Genève, No. 268464, case No. 355730, Ref. 4261. Produced in the 1950's.Very fine rare and important, flat, minute-repeating, 18K yellow gold gentleman's wristwatch with an 18K yellow gold Vacheron Constantin buckle. Accompanied by certificate. three-body, solid, polished, stepped bezel, teardrop lugs. two-tone champagne with painted indexes and Roman numerals, auxiliary seconds dial. "Bâton" yellow gold hands. Notes Production of Vacheron Constantin minute-repeating wristwatches:38 examples in total, in pink, yellow, and white gold, and platinum: - 17 examples in 1942 - 9 examples in 1944 - 12 examples in 1951.Collectors and professionals worldwide consider this to be the most beautiful minute-repeating wristwatch made in the last 60 years.What is a Minute-Repeater?A minute-repeating watch tells the time both visually and audibly. A slide on the side of the case, usually near the 9, will activate two hammers in the movement. These hammers strike two gongs curled within the case. First one hammer strikes a gong of a lower tonality, which sounds the hours. Then both hammers strike both gongs alternately to count out the quarter hours after that hour, and finally the second hammer alone striking on a higher gong sounds the minutes after that quarter hour. Therepeating mechanism was developed by English watchmaker Daniel Quare, who, in 1687, patented a mechanism that sounded the hours and the quarter hours. The early
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2001-11-11
