205 Audemars Piguet Limited Edition and Extremely Rare, Jump Hours Minute Repeater, Wristwatch in Yellow Gold, With Certificate of Origin, Extract from the Archives and Pochette, Reference 25723BA
Estimate: €40,000 – 80,000
Sold (Premium)€54,600
Model: Jump Hours Minute Repeater
Reference: 25723BA.PP.A002XX.01
Case Material: Yellow Gold
Bracelet Material: Leather Strap
Year: 1992
Movement: Manual
Caliber: 2865
Case N°: D22083, N°12
Movement N°: 373 112
Dimensions: 29 × 38 mm
Signed: Dial, Case and Movement
Accessories: Box, Pochette, Certificate of Origin, Extract from the Archives and Booklets
Since its foundation in 1875, Audemars Piguet has been a major innovator in the field of repeater watches. From the beginning of this century until the 1930s, Audemars Piguet was one of the rare watchmakers to produce jumping hour watches, as well as some of the thinnest and most reliable repeater watches in the world. Faithful to this initial vocation, Audemars Piguet has now produced a resolutely modern watch which combines for the first time two technical feats: a minute repeater with jumping hours. This rare Audemars Piguet dress watch from 1992 features two of the coolest and most advanced complications in haute horlogerie: the jumping hours and the minute repeater. Exponent of the ref. 25 723, it features a rectangular 18k yellow-gold case, measuring a classic 29 × 38 mm, with short downturned lugs and a discrete slider in the left-hand side of the case. This slider activates the repeating mechanism that strikes the hours, quarters, and minutes giving life to a wonderful sound: the hours are indicated with low-pitched tones, the minutes with high-pitched tones and the quarters with a combination of the two. The black dial is a special request from a very important client, the only one seen at the moment, features a jumping hour mechanism. Instead of using a traditional rotating hand to display the hour, it can be read through a small aperture at the 12 o’clock position. The applied Breguet yellow-gold numerals indicate the minutes while the seconds are indicated in the subsidiary dial at 6 o’clock. Offered with the original certificate, the extract from the archives, box and the Audemars pochette, this 25 723 is an exquisite piece of high-end watchmaking from one of the members of the holy trinity of Swiss watch making.