Important and rare Swiss gold tourbillon watch Circa 1932

Important and rare gold tourbillon watch
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An important and rare Swiss yellow gold open faced keyless tourbillon watch with guillaume balance awarded first prize at the Geneva Observatory, circa 1932, rhodium plated ‘German silver’ lever movement with one-minute tourbillon carriage in polished steel cage, 21 jewels, guillaume balance, adjusted to temperature and 5 positions, wolf’s tooth winding.

White enamel dial, Breguet numerals, gold hands, subsidiary seconds, signed yellow gold cuvette with dated dedication and engraved “1er Prix Au Concours de L’Observatoire Astronomique de Genève”, substantial plain polished case, case, dial, cuvette and movement signed, Bulletin Extract from the Geneva Observatory, Vacheron Constantin illustrated Certificate.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Signed: Vacheron & Constantin
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This recently re-discovered Vacheron Constantin tourbillon watch is one of the most important manufactured by the celebrated Geneva based watchmaker. Of the small number of tourbillons made by Vacheron, very few appear to have been cased and completed during the period in which the movements were made; indeed, most that have appeared at auction were cased relatively recently. It is especially rare, therefore, to find such an exceptional example as thiswatch bearing an original period case.

The accompanying Bulletin Extract from the Geneva Observatory confirms that the present watch was submitted for rigorous testing at the Geneva Observatory in 1931 where it obtained the highly prestigious First Prize. The watch was prepared for the contest by one of the most famous precision watch adjusters, E. Olivier. In 1944 the watch was again adjusted by Olivier and tested once more at the Geneva Observatory. Following these final tests, the engraving to the cuvette indicates that the watch was presented to C.D. Wales in 1946.

Accuracy in timekeeping has been critical to advances in Science and, in 1873, the Observatory in Geneva held its first annual chronometer competition. Watchmakers competed with one another to attain the coveted first prize, only awarded by the Observatory to a very small number of the most exceptional timekeepers.This watch is listed in Meis, R., Das Tourbillon.