47,200 HKD
“Aluminum” Vacheron & Constantin, Genève, No. 413726, case No. 345480, Ref. 4348. Made for Canadian Aluminium Limited circa 1950. Very fine and rare, light, aluminum keyless dress watch with aluminum movement. Accompanied by a Vacheron & Constantin box. Three-body, “bassine”, polished and brushed, the back with engraved dedication. Matte aluminum with applied polished aluminum Breguet numerals, outer minute divisions, guilloche subsidiary seconds. Brushed aluminum Breguet hands. 17’’’ Cal. 439/7, aluminum,“fausses côtes” decoration, 17 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance adjusted to temperatures, blued steel Breguet balance spring, swan-neck micrometer regulator. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 45 mm. Notes Watches with aluminum cases and movements The Vacheron & Constantin aluminum watch was conceived in 1937 at the request of Vacheron Constantin agent Henry Banks Limited of Montreal, on behalf of the Canadian Aluminium Limited companies. The watch, intended to mark 25 years of continuous service within the Aluminium group, was to have “real value, originality and at the same time, serve as a reminder of the great aluminum industry”. A prototype was produced, whose case, dial, hands, bridges, and plates were made of aluminum, and the balance, springs, wheels and pivots of traditional materials, Testing showed that the new watch was as precise as the others in its category, made of more traditional materials. In 1938 Vachero
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-11-25
