Vacheron Constantin - The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI Geneva Saturday, November 5, 2022 | Phillips

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  • Manufacturer: Vacheron Constantin
    Year: 1961
    Reference No: 6448
    Movement No: 455'138
    Case No: 873'261
    Material: 18K white gold
    Calibre: Manual, cal. 13''', 29 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Leather
    Clasp/Buckle: Pin buckle
    Dimensions: 36.5mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial and movement signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by Vacheron Constantin Extract form the Archives.

  • Catalogue Essay

    Vacheron Constantin made its first minute repeater pocket-watch in 1812, before combining striking mechanisms with major complications throughout the following decades and created its first wristwatch minute repeater in 1930.

    Ever since, the brand has mastered the delicate art of chiming timepieces making some of the most beautiful and best sounding minute repeaters ever made.

    Reference 6448 sits apart from Vacheron Constantin’s vintage minute repeater wristwatches as it has straight lugs as opposed to the brand’s signature tear drop lugs of the reference 4261. Furthermore, it was the last vintage minute repeater wristwatch made by the brand – who waited 30 years until reintroducing this complication in a wristwatch in the early 1990s.

    Reference 6448 was made in only three unique examples: platinum with diamond indexes, white gold with baton indexes and white gold with diamond indexes – the present watch, that has been in a private European collection for close to a quarter of a century.

    The sotto voce elegance of this timepiece with the flamboyance of the diamond markers and theatricality of the minute repeating mechanism make it not only an in incredibly appealing watch from which emanates an air of calm luxury but the well-preserved condition and ultra-rarity make it a crown jewel in any collection.

  • Artist Biography

    Vacheron Constantin

    Swiss • 1755

    The world's oldest watch brand in continuous operation since its founding in 1755, Vacheron Constantin was the first watch company to manufacture movements with interchangeable parts beginning in 1839. Vacheron's watches are admired for their Latin-influenced case designs, well-balanced proportions and exquisitely finished movements of the highest quality. The Geneva-based manufacturer is known for their highly complicated masterpieces, including the King Farouk Grand Complication made in 1935, the Tour de l'Ile that was the most complicated serially produced wristwatch when introduced in 2005 and the 57260 — the world’s most complicated watch — made in 2015.

    Key vintage models include minute repeating wristwatches such as the references 4261, chronographs such as the references 4178 and 6087 and the oversized Cioccolotone models such as ref. 4737. Collectors also appreciate Vacheron's Chronometer Royal pocket and wristwatches, as well as the '222,' the brand's first luxury sports watch produced from 1977 through 1984.

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Ref. 6448
A supremely elegant, scarce and enormously collectible white gold minute repeating wristwatch with diamond-set numerals

1961
36.5mm Diameter
Case, dial and movement signed

Estimate
CHF100,000 - 200,000 
€103,000-206,000
$100,000-200,000

Sold for CHF541,800

Contact Specialist

Alexandre Ghotbi
Head of Watches, Continental Europe and the Middle East
+41 22 317 81 81
AGhotbi@phillips.com
 

Tiffany To
Head of Sale, Geneva
+41 22 317 96 63
TiffanyTo@phillips.com

The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI

Geneva Auction 5 - 6 November 2022