Type XX | An extremely rare flyback chronograph wristwatch, One of only Two stainless steel examples known to exist with a yellow gold bezel
Breguet No. 499 | Sold on 25 January 1954 to Société d'Aviation Louis Breguet
Auction Closed
November 9, 08:49 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 80,000 CHF
Lot Details
Description
14’’’ Valjoux manual winding calibre 22, lever escapement, 17 jewels, compensation balance, chronograph bridge work visible to the backplate
black dial, luminescent Arabic numerals and pointed baton hands, luminescenet feuille chronograph seconds hand, outer white track calibrated for minutes/chronograph seconds, subsidiary seconds and oversized 30-minute register, the minute totaliser with luminescent markers at each 3-minute interval and luminescent recording hand, cursive Breguet signature
stainless steel case, 18ct gold rotating bezel with milled edge and triangular indicator, two chronograph pushers to the band, down-turned lugs with chamfered edges, screw-down case back numbered 499
Measurements
diameter 38mm
case depth 13mm
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.
First mentioned in the spring of 1953, the Type XX would go on to become one of the 20th century’s most iconic chronographs. In January 1954, two intriguing watches, nos. 498 and 499 - the present example - were recorded in the Breguet Archives, described respectively as “Type 20” and “Type XX.” The reason for this distinction remains unknown, but both 498 and 499 are unique within Breguet’s production and are the only known examples combining a stainless-steel case with an 18-carat gold bezel. Fittingly, both watches were purchased by the Société d’Aviation Louis Breguet.
Also notable are the luminescent dots placed at the tips of the elongated 3-, 6-, and 9-minute markers within the minute totaliser, rather than the longer luminescent batons more typically found on early Type XX watches.
Further illustrating the importance of nos. 498 and 499, these watches were the first two pieces within a series of only twenty-seven Type XX chronographs (the rest being all steel examples) described by Emmanuel Breguet as “primitive,” a term that highlights their pioneering status within the model’s development. Within this series, numbered from 498 to 524, no. 519 was famously sold to H.M. Bao Dai, Emperor of Vietnam and one of history’s most discerning watch collectors.
For the very first time, one of these two watches - no. 499 - is appearing on the international auction market. Emerging from the collection of a distinguished private individual, the present lot represents an extraordinary discovery, illustrating the genesis of the iconic Type XX in its rarest and most historically significant configuration.