Oh, i was SO excited
Admittedly i was following the auction live (via the web interface) and couldn´t wait
Thanks a lot for your impressions!
I´d love to see that one up close. I´ve seen one of these once, but that´s unlikely to ever happen again simply because there are just 18 in existance and chances are low another will be publically shown very soon. So it´s a very rare occurence.
The funny thing is two vintage pocket watches with Three Gold Bridges movements, but not tourbillons, sold in the region of around 30-34K Euro within the last weeks.
In this, the 1982 piece is a
real bargain and little money for what it is. Making these required a lot more efforts than any wrist tourbillon and as usual, the first piece is always the most difficult to make.
In absolute terms it´s a large sum of money for sure, but i think the 1982 piece is more than excellent value if comparing it to more modern wrist watches selling in that price bracket. Actually GP´s tourbillons usually go for less, which makes the pocket watch stand out. And it´s among the most expensive GP pocket tourbillons, if not including the small 13" ligne pieces which are extremely rare.
Back in 1982, tourbillons made for a rare breed.
Since invention in early 1800´s, only about 600-800 tourbillons were made until 1980´s and it was only with the increasing interest in mechanical watches these things came to life then. In the year of introduction, the Three Bridges pocket watch was a real surprise. The more so it was a completely new crafted piece and not using a vintage movement.
I think André Curtit is not wrong to say it´s among the finest things ever made in the watch valley and given the time it was made, the way it was made and the pedigree, it´s really a historic piece.
I´m envious about the chance to see it up close, though
Cheers,
Peter
