lot 34

Audemars Piguet

JULES "150 Years" Tourbillon

Estimate CHF 20 000 / CHF 30 000
Starting bid CHF 20 000

Hammer price CHF 34 000
Total bids 10
All prices do not include 24% Premium

Specification

CaseSolid 18kt rose gold case, fine brushed finished sides, polished bezel ring, lugs & caseback
StrapBlack alligator/crocodile leather, folding clasp
DialSilvered dial with a ultra fine linear brushed finish, polished 18kt rose gold minute & hour hands with luminescent finish fill, luminous painted arabic numeral hour markers second hand 9 o’clock
MovementPower reserve indicator sub-dial located to left of the dial, date sub-dial located to right of the dial, 60 seconds tourbillon cage located at the bottom of the dial, winding & setting crown located on the caseback
Cal.2875
Ref.25964OR.OO.D002CR.01
Movement No.418191
Case No.E68606
AccessoriesExtract from archives
D=40 mm
Yearca. 2001

Condition report

Case:Very good, very small signs of use
Strap:Good, slightly used
Dial:Very good, mint condition
Movement:Very good, working properly
Amplitude (Dial on top/Lift angle 52):ca. 300 degrees
Accuracy (Dial on top):ca.+ 6 s/day
Box:No
Papers:Yes

Details 

A fine, unusual and rare rose gold commemorative-edition complicated wristwatch of the famous Swiss watch brand Audemars Piguet, founded in 1875. Commemorative edition launched in 2001, estimated production year: 2000. Case made of 18k rose gold, diameter 40mm, 11.9mm thick, crème-toned dial, finely vertically brushed, solid-gold caseback with medallion embossed with the Audemars family crest along with a ribbon carrying the inscription “Jules Audemars – 150 ans”. Backwinder self-winding caliber 2875, a bumper winding system with a heavy eccentric in iridium-platinum alloy rather than the traditional rotor. Power reserve up to 54 hours. Functions – indication of hours and minutes with an off-centre main dial, flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock, date sub-dial at 4 o’clock, power reserve sub-dial at 8 o’clock. Black leather strap with 18k rose gold Audemars Piguet “AP” folding clasp. 

Lot essay 

The self-winding caliber 2875, with a bumper winding system, lightweight titanium tourbillon carriage, and rare backwinder feature with the crown set on the caseback, was introduced by Audemars Piguet in 1993 in the world’s first wristwatch caliber 2870 combining a tourbillon, automatic winding, and power reserve and date indicators. Caliber 2875 was built on the principles of the caliber 2870, the world-first wristwatch automatic tourbillon movement of serial production, the thinnest tourbillon movement of that time and still one of the thinnest in the industry. This includes the placement of the crown on the casseback and a hummer-type self-winding system. Compared to caliber 2870, 2875 has an enlarged, and therefore more spectacular, tourbillon, an additional power-reserve indicator and a pointer-type date sub-dial. Reference 25718 was the first to use caliber 2875. It featured a classic round case made from 18k yellow, rose gold or platinum, and 1950s-style rounded teardrop lugs. Reference 25718 has a notable appearance due to its streamlined case devoid of a crown, which has been moved to the back, and the symmetric layout of its dial. 

The Jules Audemars 150th Anniversary Tourbillon Automatic Ref. 25964OR.OO.D002CR.01 special commemorative edition watch in 18k rose gold rarely comes up for auction

Reference 25964 was introduced in 2001 as a tribute to Jules Audemars, born in 1851, one of the two founders of the brand. For it, Audemars Piguet created a new version of the streamlined crown-free design with vertically brushed dial, and military-styled luminous Arabic numerals. Ref. 25964 adopted the specific round case shape and finishing of the newly-introduced Jules Audemars collection and the impressively large tourbillon window of caliber 2875 at 6 o’clock. Two Ref. 25964 versions were produced – in 18k rose gold with a cream-toned dial, as in the present lot, and in platinum with a blue dial. Besides these watches, caliber 2875 was used extremely rarely in the Audemars Piguet collection. This was done in 1997 in the limited editions of the Royal Oak Automatique Tourbillon 25th Anniversary Ref. 25831 in stainless steel, 18k rose gold, 18k yellow gold and in platinum, and also in 2016, when it was used in the Jules Audemars Tourbillon Openworked Ref. 26143PT watch in platinum. 

Reasons to bid 

The Jules Audemars 150th Anniversary Tourbillon Automatic Ref. 25964OR.OO.D002CR.01 special commemorative edition watch in 18k rose gold rarely comes up for auction, and is therefore an excellent chance for the collector to obtain a fine, unusual and rare complicated mechanical timepiece from a world-famous traditional watch brand, one of the undoubted leaders of the haute horlogerie watch market. The appeal of this lot is greatly enhanced by the fact that the automatic tourbillon caliber 2875 was rarely used in the Audemars Piguet collection – most probably it has now been discontinued – and the characteristic military-styled dial design appears only in this reference, which was introduced just once, in 2001.