Francesca Tagliatti
Nowadays watch is not only an instrument for measuring time, keeping track of the passing of hours, minutes and seconds, but it has become a real beauty accessory, a travel companion, fully integrated in the way we are.
Collectible wrist and pocket watches are a niche market in continuous growth and, in view of this trend, the Cambi Auction House has decided to set up a dedicated department from June 2015, in order to meet the demands of national and international clients.
On the occasion of the autumn Milanese exhibition, previous to the auctions, to be held in the beautiful setting of Palazzo Serbelloni in Milan, visitors will be able to enjoy precious and rare timepieces, including a very rare pocket watch in pink gold with complications by Audemars Piguet, made in 1892. The peculiarity of this watch is the fact that, in addition be accompanied by its original certificate, it has what in the watchmaking world is defined as major complications, namely all those additional features that the basic watch has other than hours, minutes and seconds: minute repeater, large and small strike, split-seconds function, perpetual calendar, moon phases. The precious timepiece, which has a double “savonette” case, white enamel dial with Roman numerals, case with leverage to activate automatically the grand strike beating the hours and quarters and a small strike that beats only the quarters, is estimated from 70,000 to 100,000 euros.
Moving on to wristwatches, it will be possible to see a selection of Eberhard Extra-fort from the 1950s and 1960s, women’s “jewel” watches in white gold and diamonds by Universal Genève, Rolex, Patek Philippe and a series of Cartier, vintage and modern clocks.
Cambi Auction House will be pleased to welcome you and guide you with our experts in a path that marks the “mechanisms” and the passing of time.
The auction Watches and Pocket Watches, Vintage and Modern will take place in Milan on 17 November 2015 at Palazzo Serbelloni.
Audemars Piguet
The company Audemars Piguet was officially set up in 1881 in Vallée de Joux, in Switzerland, in order to build and sell mainly complicated watches. Soon it becomes extremely successful, thanks to the cooperation of the two founders Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, and its reputation crossed its national borders. Each partner opened new paths to their area of activity; if Jules Louis Audemars is a tireless innovator, Edward Piguet was one of the first watch entrepreneurs to create sales subsidiaries in Europe and America. Unity is strength, and so mechanical successes went hand in hand with the commercial ones, creating precious timepieces that left their mark in the world of watchmaking: in 1928 it was the turn of the first skeleton watch; then of the world’s thinnest movement in collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre; and yet, in 1972, the Royal Oak (symbol of protection and power) – the first luxury steel sports watch designed by Gérald Genta – features a powerful style emphasized by the octagonal bezel secured with eight hexagonal screws.
The precious timepiece of 1892, at auction in November, is the result of hours of work to put together approximately 723 components finished and adjusted by hand, one by one, an expression of the watchmaking tradition in its most complete form.
Nowadays watch is not only an instrument for measuring time, keeping track of the passing of hours, minutes and seconds, but it has become a real beauty accessory, a travel companion, fully integrated in the way we are.
Collectible wrist and pocket watches are a niche market in continuous growth and, in view of this trend, the Cambi Auction House has decided to set up a dedicated department from June 2015, in order to meet the demands of national and international clients.
On the occasion of the autumn Milanese exhibition, previous to the auctions, to be held in the beautiful setting of Palazzo Serbelloni in Milan, visitors will be able to enjoy precious and rare timepieces, including a very rare pocket watch in pink gold with complications by Audemars Piguet, made in 1892. The peculiarity of this watch is the fact that, in addition be accompanied by its original certificate, it has what in the watchmaking world is defined as major complications, namely all those additional features that the basic watch has other than hours, minutes and seconds: minute repeater, large and small strike, split-seconds function, perpetual calendar, moon phases. The precious timepiece, which has a double “savonette” case, white enamel dial with Roman numerals, case with leverage to activate automatically the grand strike beating the hours and quarters and a small strike that beats only the quarters, is estimated from 70,000 to 100,000 euros.
Moving on to wristwatches, it will be possible to see a selection of Eberhard Extra-fort from the 1950s and 1960s, women’s “jewel” watches in white gold and diamonds by Universal Genève, Rolex, Patek Philippe and a series of Cartier, vintage and modern clocks.
Cambi Auction House will be pleased to welcome you and guide you with our experts in a path that marks the “mechanisms” and the passing of time.
The auction Watches and Pocket Watches, Vintage and Modern will take place in Milan on 17 November 2015 at Palazzo Serbelloni.
Audemars Piguet
The company Audemars Piguet was officially set up in 1881 in Vallée de Joux, in Switzerland, in order to build and sell mainly complicated watches. Soon it becomes extremely successful, thanks to the cooperation of the two founders Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet, and its reputation crossed its national borders. Each partner opened new paths to their area of activity; if Jules Louis Audemars is a tireless innovator, Edward Piguet was one of the first watch entrepreneurs to create sales subsidiaries in Europe and America. Unity is strength, and so mechanical successes went hand in hand with the commercial ones, creating precious timepieces that left their mark in the world of watchmaking: in 1928 it was the turn of the first skeleton watch; then of the world’s thinnest movement in collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre; and yet, in 1972, the Royal Oak (symbol of protection and power) – the first luxury steel sports watch designed by Gérald Genta – features a powerful style emphasized by the octagonal bezel secured with eight hexagonal screws.
The precious timepiece of 1892, at auction in November, is the result of hours of work to put together approximately 723 components finished and adjusted by hand, one by one, an expression of the watchmaking tradition in its most complete form.