Breguet

18k, damascened nickel lever movement (Cal. V.P. 11'''), bi-metallic compensation balance, engine turned silver dial (guilloché plusieurs fois), chapter ring with Roman numerals, retrograde sector for date, further sector for seconds combined with ages and phases of the moon with gold and blue enamel disc, blued steel Breguet moon hands, gold retrograde glaive date hand, circular white gold case with polished chamfered bezel, down-turned screw-set lugs, case and dial signed; movement, dial and case numbered, with a white gold folding clasp stamped HP and a Breguet certificate.



Breguet Certificate
The accompanying Breguet Certificate confirms that this wristwatch was manufactured in 1935 and sold on 24th December the same year for 10,000 Francs.



Provenance
Breguet no.3282 has remained in the same family since its original purchase in 1935.



The ebauche of this wristwatch was manufactured for Breguet by Victorin Piguet (1850-1937). Victorin Piguet was especially famous for the chronograph and calendar movements that he made for Patek Philippe. It should be noted that the under dial of the present lot is almost identical to the movement Victorin Piguet made for Patek Philippe, no.860.183, illustrated in Huber, M. & Banbery, A., Patek Philippe Wristwatches, Second Edition, p.281 (sold Antiquorum, Geneva, October 19th, 2002, lot 79 CHF 1,433,500). Patek Philippe no.860.183 was a unique wristwatch also with perpetual calendar, retrograde date and moon-phases and was manufactured 2 years after the present lot, the same year that Victorin Piguet died.   For a note on Victorin Piguet, see Sotheby's Geneva, 14th November 2006, lot 331.  



By using a retrograde sector towards the centre of the dial rather than a track at its edge, the date is clearly separated from the time indication, thereby avoiding any confusion when reading. Indeed, each sector/chapter ring is neatly separated from one another by the engine turned ground of the dial, resulting in the harmonious clarity of the dial's design.



In design, Breguet no.3282 clearly shows the influence of the company's founder, Abraham Louis Breguet (1747-1823). Breguet was one of the most famous, gifted and inventive horologists of all time and was already legendary within his own lifetime, receiving commissions from European Royalty, Nobility and other distinguished persons. The dial of the watch is composed of typically multi layered engine turning of the highest quality typical of Breguet's finest work. It is interesting to compare its style to that of a period Breguet watch from circa 1820, such as no.3833 shown above left. The current lot can be seen to form a bridge between the pocket watches of the company's founder and the modern wristwatches manufactured by Breguet today. Indeed, reference 3787 (illustrated top right) is a modern perpetual calendar wristwatch with retrograde date which is unquestionably influenced by the present lot. The dial of the modern reference 3787 is almost identical to its ancestor, featuring a similar double chapter ring, apertures in the centre of the dial and retrograde date sector.



The influence of Breguet no.3282 should not be understated, the development of its movement and the design of its dial played a key part in the development of the perpetual calendar wristwatch, a part to which many modern wristwatches owe their heritage.



We are grateful to TheSourceTECHdata for their assistance with the research of this wristwatch.

Breguet no.3282 is one of the most important perpetual calendar wristwatches ever made and is of undoubted significance in the development of the complication. Not only is this wristwatch one of earliest perpetual calendar wristwatches, but it is possibly the first wristwatch by any watch manufacturer to feature a retrograde date and perpetual calendar.

To the best of our knowledge, only one other example of an early Breguet perpetual calendar wristwatch has been offered at public auction. That watch, the "Dollfus" Perpetual Calendar no.2516, was offered in the "Art Of Breguet" auction held at Antiquorum, Geneva, 14th April 1991, lot 173. Stylistically the "Dollfus" perpetual calendar is very different to the present lot, bearing a tonneau form case and without retrograde date. Interestingly, the Dollfus perpetual calendar was sold the year before the present lot for 11,000 Francs. Both watches, therefore, would have been amongst the most expensive manufactured by Breguet at the time.