Important Swiss gold one-minute tourbillon watch Circa 1934

Gold open faced pocket watch
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An extremely rare and important 18K gold Swiss keyless pocket watch, circa 1934. With a one-minute tourbillon regulator and Guillaume balance, specially adjusted for the 1934 Geneva Observatory Contest obtaining the first prize, also submitted for the Geneva Observatory contests of 1947 and 1960. Constantin, Genève, adjusted by E. Olivier and Brahier. Made in 1934, cased in gold in 1991.

A polished bassine with a concealed hinge. Glazed gold-rimmed cuvette. White enamel dial with Arabic numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel Breguet hands. A rhodium-plated, Geneva striping decoration, 19 jewels, wolf’s tooth winding, one-minute tourbillon regulator, the carriage with three polished steel equidistant arms and matted steel bridge, straight-line lever escapement, cut Guillaume Anibal-brass compensation balance with gold temperature adjustment screws, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator. Dial, case and movement signed.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Signed: Vacheron & Constantin Genève
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The present watch was submitted to the Geneva Observatory in 1934 and won first prize. Again in 1947, it was one of a special group of watches, all with tourbillon regulators, and all adjusted under the direction of master adjuster E. Olivier and Brahier, for the 1946 and 1947 Geneva Timing Contest. The results surpassed all expectations: the first three places in 1947 were taken by Vacheron Constantin, and the all-time record was broken, with 883.8 points. In particular, the record that Patek Philippe had held for 13 years, since 1934, was broken. Out of the 30 first places, Vacheron Constantin took half the prizes. All the watches were identical – extremely high-grade tourbillon regulators, made entirely in the factory, superbly adjusted by Olivier or Brahier, aided by the skill acquired through years of experience. They were usually cased in brass cases just for the Contest and the present watch would almost certainly have been cased in this way originally. The company kept these watches for many years, and some were sent to the Kew Observatory Contests, while some turned up again later in Geneva. It was not until the 1980’s that the company decided to sell some of the remaining stock of these pieces. The present watch is one of them. The present watch was submitted on a third-occasion to the Observatoire de Geneve for testing in 1960. The results of this trial are as follows: Name of Regulator: U. Brahier The chronometre obtained 50.35 points out of a possible 60. The highest score achieved in this trial was 55.62 points and the lowest 25.24. This chronometer took 39th place against the 259 chronometers that took part in this trial, a very impressive result more than thirty years after it first competed in a chronometer trial.