An 18ct pink gold wristwatch
Breguet No. 3231, ‘Empire’ | Sold to Monsieur Sauvageot on 17 June 1960 for Fr. 1,450
Auction Closed
November 9, 08:49 PM GMT
Estimate
32,000 - 55,000 CHF
Lot Details
Description
13’’’ Peseux manually wound calibre 260, damascened decoration, lever escapement, 17 jewels, compensation balance, numbered 3231
silver engine-turned dial, guilloché clou de Paris patterned, twin satin finished chapter rings with black Roman numerals and outer pearled minute ring, subsidiary seconds with Arabic numeral chapter, gold Breguet hands, angled cartouche signed Breguet
18ct pink gold case, milled band, long lugs with screw-set lug bars, snap-on case back, case back interior with French eagle’s head assay and Breguet maker’s mark
Measurements
diameter 35 mm
depth 10.5 mm
weight including strap and buckle 53.84g
Accompaniments
with a Breguet 250th anniversary certificate
Please note the leather strap derived from endangered species is for display purposes only and is not sold with the watch. The watch will be shipped with a Sotheby’s branded calf leather strap.
Sotheby's, Geneva, May 2012, lot 379
During the 1950s, Breguet introduced a new generation of high-luxury wristwatches, designed in the traditional Breguet style with gold cases featuring fluted casebands, guilloché dials, and gold Breguet hands. Although officially styled Vieux Breguet, the model became popularly known as Empire, despite never being formally designated as such. It helped establish a template for the Maison’s subsequent development of wristwatches. For a similar watch, numbered 1411 and dating to 1964, see: Emmanuel Breguet, Breguet: Watchmakers Since 1775, Revised and Expanded Edition, Swan Éditeur, 2016, p. 348, fig. 412.
The present watch is fitted with the highly regarded manually wound Peseux calibre 260. Produced between 1944 and 1967, this movement was regularly submitted for testing at the Geneva and Neuchâtel Observatories, where it acquired a reputation for outstanding chronometric performance. Total production is estimated at around 3,300 examples over its 23-year span. This limited production highlights both its rarity and the fact that, despite its exceptional qualities, it was never widely commercialised. Breguet’s decision to house the calibre within its Empire watches reflects a deliberate pursuit of technical precision to match the refinement of the case and dial. In recent years, the reputation of the Peseux calibre 260 has led to its use by leading independent makers such as Kari Voutilainen.