Antiquorum’s May 8-9 Geneva Auction Offers Many Delights

Antiquorum’s Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, Pocket Watches, & Clocks Auction, to be held on Saturday and Sunday May 8 and 9 at the Mandarin Oriental Geneva, will offer more than 450 selected vintage and modern timepieces for sale. Top items include a Patek Philippe 10 Day Tourbillon, an Audemars Piguet Cabinet No. 2, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon No. 1/1 Piece Unique, and more.

One of the sale highlights is the rare Grande & Petite Sonnerie Tourbillon Clockwatch attributed to Victorin Piguet, made for Tchétounoff Frères, Moscow, circa 1900, shown below. Its movement combines a two-train grande and petite sonnerie with trip minute-repeating and one-minute tourbillon. The presale estimate is SFr. 300,000 to 400,000.

Another rare and significant complicated piece to be offered is the Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Complication Gyrotourbillon No. 1/1 – Piece Unique. This highly complicated 8-day going platinum wristwatch features a visible Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 177 with inclined lightweight two-cage multi-axis spherical tourbillon, two barrels with sapphire covers, “marchante” equation of time, perpetual calendar with retrograde month indication, leap-year indication and patented instant date display by means of two retrograde hands and power reserve indication. It was originally sold in December, 2007. The presale estimate is SFr. 270,000 to 320,000.

Another exceptional timepiece included in the sale is the Audemars Piguet “Jules Audemars Tourbillon Répétition Minutes Quantième Perpetuel”, Cabinet No.2, second watch in the “Tradition of Excellence” cabinet series. It was made circa 2000 in a limited edition of 20 pieces. This grand complication combines minute-repeating and perpetual calendar functions with a visible one-minute tourbillon regulator. The estimate is SFr. 270,000 to 320,000.

Collectors will also have a chance to bid on this handsome Patek Philippe Ref. 5101P – “10 Days Tourbillon”, sold on December 18, 2006 by G. Collins & Sons, British Crown Jewelers and personal jeweler to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This curved, rectangular Art Deco style platinum chronometer wristwatch holds a one-minute tourbillon regulator and tandem mainspring barrels providing a 10-day power reserve. It is accompanied by the Certificate of Origin, chronometer rating certificate, instructions in a leather folder, the original wood fitted box and a limited edition Patek Philippe art print – VI-2003 illustrating the movement of the Ref. 5101. The estimate is SFr. 200,000 to 250,000.