531,000 HKD
“Constant Force” Vacheron & Constantin, Genève, No. 628908. Ebauche made in 1929, finished and cased in the 1990s. Exceptional, macassar wood, gold, black onyx-set, 30 day going, double-barrel, “remontoire d’égalité”, skeletonized clock in original leather fitted box and traveling case. Recently serviced by Vacheron & Constantin. Rectangular with canted top corners, glazed on all sides, the glass on the back fitted with 3 gold onyx-set shuttered winding and setting apertures, wooded frames with gold borders, molded base with gold border fitted with a small drawer for gold setting and winding keys. Painted on the inside of the front glass, Arabic numerals in rectangular black-painted frame with canted corners. Black “lozenge” hands. Magnificently finished, skeletonized and engraved, double-barrel, entire train and the escapement jeweled, straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with Breguet balance spring, “remontoire d’égalité” with constant force applied to the escape wheel via a spiral spring which is wound by the going train. Signed on case and movement. Dim: Height 25 cm, width 20 cm. Notes According to the Vacheron Constantin archives, twelve ebauches were produced in 1929, with a long-duration, double-barrel, special “remontoire” with straight lever escapement. Only five are known to have been finished. Three, completed in 1932 and 1933, are illustrated in “l’Univers de Vacheron Constantin” by Carole Lambelet and Lorette Coen, Genève, p.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-04-23
