PRE-MODEL 1530 - Lot 257

PRE-MODEL 1530 N° 44644 SOLD MARCH 1, 1942 AT CASANOVA RETAIL, BOLOGNA (ITALY). Chronograph wristwatch, "4/5", three counters, in 18K yellow gold on leather. Case: round, domed pressure back, olive pushers. Case shape "255". Dial: dark champagne, baton hour markers and Arabic numeral 12 applied in pink, railway track with minute track graduated to 1/5th of a second, blue tachometric scale. Three guilloché auxiliary dials, for small seconds, 30 minutes with red "4/5", and 12-hour chronograph. Polished gold baton hands, chrono hand and two subdials in blued steel. Movement: mechanical, column-wheel, cal. 13 CCVH, monometallic balance wheel, Breguet balance spring. Strap: leather with attached pin buckle. Dial, case and movement signed. Numbered 44644 (case and movement). Diameter: 32 mm. Gross weight: 47.18 g. With : Extract from the Registres AP. PROVENANCE: Acquired by descent, kept in the family of the original owner. Excellent overall condition. Bibliography: similar examples are illustrated in: Gilbert L. Brunner, Christian Pfeiffer-Belli, Martin K. Wehrli, Audemars Piguet, le maître de l'horlogerie, 1993, Le Brassus, p. 242, 243. The 1530 "pre-modele" is illustrated in: Audemars Piguet, Les montres-bracelets à complications Audemars Piguet au XXème siècle, Le Brassus, p. 186-187. The watch is well indicated in the Audemars Piguet Archives as corresponding to the photograph numbered 1530, of which 8 examples were produced (including 6 in 18K yellow gold) and only 3 delivered to the retailer Casanova, in Bologna, Italy. The movement was manufactured in 1939 and the watch left the factory/sold in 1942. This model is one of the very few chronograph wristwatches produced by Audemars Piguet during the Second World War, between 1939 and 1945, the Manufacture's most productive period in this specific chronograph segment before the revival of the 1980s. It is a perfect illustration of the high quality and exclusivity of Audemars Piguet's production during this period, which is rarely represented at auction: only 210 watches were produced during this six-year war period. What's more, its excellent state of preservation proves that the watch, as confirmed by its current owner (a descendant of the original owner), has been worn very little, and the case has never been polished. The dial has not been altered in any way, and this version, with its long applied batons that perfectly inhabit and balance the space, is less common than those in the shape of a stud. The index 12 is in Arabic numerals, not Roman. The movement, in exceptional condition, has been crafted to a high level of finish. A single watchmaker's revision mark can be seen on the inside of the caseback.