BREGUET. A POSSIBLY UNIQUE, OUTSTANDINGLY RARE, HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT AND PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED 18K WHITE GOLD TONNEAU-SHAPED PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE AND MOON PHASES - PROBABLY THE EARLIEST PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE
BREGUET. A POSSIBLY UNIQUE, OUTSTANDINGLY RARE, HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT AND PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED 18K WHITE GOLD TONNEAU-SHAPED PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE AND MOON PHASES - PROBABLY THE EARLIEST PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE
BREGUET. A POSSIBLY UNIQUE, OUTSTANDINGLY RARE, HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT AND PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED 18K WHITE GOLD TONNEAU-SHAPED PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE AND MOON PHASES - PROBABLY THE EARLIEST PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE
3 More
BREGUET. A POSSIBLY UNIQUE, OUTSTANDINGLY RARE, HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT AND PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED 18K WHITE GOLD TONNEAU-SHAPED PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE AND MOON PHASES - PROBABLY THE EARLIEST PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE
6 More
BREGUETPERPETUAL CALENDAR RETROGRADE DATE NO. 3218 - SOLD TO PAUL IRIBE, LOVER OF COCO CHANEL
BREGUET. A POSSIBLY UNIQUE, OUTSTANDINGLY RARE, HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT AND PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED 18K WHITE GOLD TONNEAU-SHAPED PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE AND MOON PHASES - PROBABLY THE EARLIEST PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE

SIGNED BREGUET, NO. 3218, ‘QUANTIEME PERPETUEL - DATE RETROGRADE, JOURS ET MOIS GUICHETS, PHASES DE LUNE’, MANUFACTURED IN 1935, SOLD TO MONSIEUR PAUL IRIBE ON 24 MAY, 1935, FOR THE SUM OF 10,000 FRANCS

Details
BREGUET. A POSSIBLY UNIQUE, OUTSTANDINGLY RARE, HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT AND PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED 18K WHITE GOLD TONNEAU-SHAPED PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE AND MOON PHASES - PROBABLY THE EARLIEST PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH RETROGRADE DATE
SIGNED BREGUET, NO. 3218, ‘QUANTIEME PERPETUEL - DATE RETROGRADE, JOURS ET MOIS GUICHETS, PHASES DE LUNE’, MANUFACTURED IN 1935, SOLD TO MONSIEUR PAUL IRIBE ON 24 MAY, 1935, FOR THE SUM OF 10,000 FRANCS
Movement: Manual
Dial: Silvered
Case: 26 mm. wide, 40 mm. overall length
With: Two colour gold deployant clasp stamped ‘EJ’ for Edmond Jaeger and numbered 24483, 10054, Breguet Certificate dated 2024
Remark: One of only two known vintage rectangular Breguet wristwatches with retrograde date

Brought to you by

Remi Guillemin
Remi Guillemin Head of Watches, Europe and Americas

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

Sign in
View condition report

Lot Essay

This wristwatch, Breguet no. 3218, is one of the most important ever made by Breguet and one of the single most important wristwatches ever made.

Only four vintage perpetual calendar wristwatches, including the present watch, with retrograde date of any brand are known to exist. Three made by Breguet and one by Patek Philippe. Made in 1935, this remarkable tonneau-shaped watch was an incredible watchmaking achievement for the period. It was recently discovered in private hands and until now was completely unknown publicly. The emergence of this wonderfully stylish Art Deco tonneau-shaped perpetual calendar wristwatch with retrograde date and moon phases is one of the most exciting discoveries of recent times, indeed it is of immense significance in the context of the entire history of the wristwatch. For any collector of vintage wristwatches, Breguet no. 3218 must be one of the ultimate prizes of all.

Very probably unique in a tonneau-shaped case, Breguet no. 3218 is undoubtedly one of the most important wristwatches ever made by the celebrated house of Breguet in the first half of the 20th century. If this were not enough, the provenance is stellar - it was sold to the great French designer and illustrator Paul Iribe who became the lover of Coco Chanel from 1933.

Breguet no. 3218 is also among the earliest Breguet wristwatches ever made with an instantaneous perpetual calendar. Indeed, the earliest purpose-made perpetual calendar wristwatch ever made was a Breguet wristwatch, no. 2516, tonneau-shaped in a white gold case, it was made in 1929 and sold to Jean Dollfus. That watch was sold by Christie’s Geneva on 16 May 2011, lot 427. The only other pre-war wristwatch featuring an instantaneous perpetual calendar known to exist to date was made by Patek Philippe in 1925, however fitted with a movement originally designed for a lady's pendant watch.

What makes the present watch, Breguet no. 3218, of huge importance and significance is that it is the earliest of only two known rectangular-shaped Breguet perpetual calendar wristwatches with retrograde date feature and the only known tonneau-shaped example. The other rectangular watch, dating from 1936, is in a white gold case (private collection). Moreover, the present watch is part of only four known vintage retrograde perpetual calendar wristwatches from any brand, each of the four known watches are unique in design:

- Breguet No. 3218, white gold tonneau-shaped, sold May 1935 - The Present Watch
- Breguet No. 3282, white gold circular-shaped, sold December 1935 - sold Sotheby’s Geneva, 15 May 2007
- Breguet, white gold rectangular-shaped, 1936 - Private Collection
- Patek Philiippe movement no. 860’183, case no. 4’178’996, yellow gold circular-shaped, 1937 - sold Antiquorum Geneva, 19 October 2002

We would like to thank the Montres Breguet company, and especially Mr. Emmanuel Breguet, for providing us with this information taken from the company's precious archives.

Paul Iribe
One of the best known French illustrators and designers of the Art Deco period, Paul Iribe first came to prominence for his caricatures featured in various Parisian journals, including ‘Le Cride Paris’, ‘Le Rire’ and ‘Le Temoin’. Iribe was also able to turn his hand to furniture design, having been commissioned in 1912 by the couturier Jacues Doucet to design the furnishings of his apartment in Paris. It was also during this period that Iribe first designed serious jewellery pieces such as the Emerald and diamond aigrette now part of the legendary Al-Thani Collection.

At the onset of the First World War, Iribe emigrated to Hollywood to create and design stage sets for Cecil B De. Mille, most notably for the 1923 film ‘The Ten Commandments.’

After returning to Paris from the U.S., Iribe met Coco Chanel and in 1933 he collaborated with Chanel in the design of a high jewellery collection commissioned by the International Guild of Diamond Merchants. Called the 'Bijoux de Diamants' collection, the collection featured mostly pieces in diamonds and platinum in the forms of knots, stars, and feathers. The collection was exhibited Chanel's own home in the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré in Paris and was a huge success, drawing large crowds.

Paul Iribe owned at least one other watch by Breguet, pocket watch no. 2175, an automatic watch with large power reserve, was sold to Iribe in December 1933. The present watch, no. 3218, was unlike anything else available on the market at the time and its appeal is as evident today as it was to Iribe’s exacting eye in 1935.

More from Rare Watches Including Watches for ELA

View All
View All