PERRELET 1777 GMT Chronograph 18k Rose-Gold, Diamond bezel & Skeleton dial A3007/7

Product Description

PERRELET: A Revolutionary History.

“The Swiss watch industry rapidly expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries, distinguishing itself from its French and English competitors with more elegant, innovative, and higher-quality watches. Abraham-Louis Perrelet was born around 1729 in Switzerland, in Le Locle, in the canton of Neuchâtel, into a family of watchmakers. His early achievements earned him a job at the age of 24 in the most renowned watchmaking workshop of the time: the workshop of Abraham-Louis Breguet. Thus, young Perrelet traveled to Paris with the aim of perfecting his skills with the famous watchmaker, who soon discovered the unique talent of that young watchmaker.  For over a decade, Perrelet trained in the difficult craft of producing the most precise and beautiful watches while working on the design of innovative chronometric mechanisms for Breguet.

After his years of apprenticeship at the Breguet workshop, Perrelet returned to Switzerland and aspired to create his own masterpieces. One of the biggest inconveniences of watches at the time was the need to wind them every day with a small key to energize their intricate mechanism. Perrelet set out to free watch owners from the daily routine of winding, devising an automatic system that would be powered by the natural kinetic energy of the moving human body and stored in the same winding mechanism. Perrelet conceived a rotor that would capture the kinetic energy of human movement, the quintessence of passing days, and convert it into the energy that would perpetually drive that mechanism.

After years of sketches and failed experiments, in 1777 Perrelet finally brought to life the first automatic winding watch in the history of watchmaking. The metallic rotor he had devised spun freely in both directions, propelled by the movements the watch made as its owner walked, and transmitting its circular dance to the delicate gear that wound the spring of the mechanism. Perrelet’s genius lay in having conceived that concept and translating it into a mechanism capable of transforming the incessant flow of life into the energy that would keep the machinery of his new creation in perpetual motion. A surprisingly simple yet enormously effective system, which has survived to this day.”

PERRELET Dual-Time Automatic Chronograph skeletonized watch in 18k Rose-Gold with factory diamond bezel. Ref #: A3007/7.

Last known RRP $25,200 (usd).