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Lot Essay
This watch is a dream in the collecting community. The Peseux 260 is generally considered one of the finest time-only chronometer movements of the 20th century, performing admirably in the timing competitions throughout Switzerland. While rare in any wristwatch, those Peseux 260s that have surfaced over the years have typically been found in watches created by LeRoy, DuBois, Beba, and other similar makers. Kari Voutilainen also acquired a limited number of these movements to power a limited run of modern masterpieces.
For many years the "Breguet Peseux 260" was hardly more than a rumor - a "grail" that could only be seen in grainy scans on the Internet. It was eventually confirmed that during the 1950s, a time period during which Breguet was not creating many watches of any type, Breguet released a limited number of time-only watches powered by this legendary movement. In recent years a few have finally surfaced.
While uncommon in any metal, the vast majority of the watches powered by Peseux 260s created by Breguet were released in yellow gold. They did, however, create a few in stainless steel, this being one of them. This timepiece is known simply as "the 1276" within the house of Breguet, which number is stamped on both the movement and the case back. So few of these timepieces were created by Breguet that they all received a unique identifying number. According to the archives of Breguet, the present watch was manufactured in 1953 and sold on December 31, 1953. Beyond being one of only a few known stainless steel Breguet P260s in existence today, what makes this watch even more special is the dial. Breguet deviated from its traditional look with this one going with more of a simple dial rather than what is commonly referred to a as a "Breguet dial". We have never seen another like this one.
An opportunity to acquire any time-only Breguet from the early to mid-20th century is special, but the chance to acquire a possibly-unique stainless steel Breguet powered by the legendary Peseux 260 is perhaps once in a lifetime. It is a watch that is worthy of the moniker "grail."
For many years the "Breguet Peseux 260" was hardly more than a rumor - a "grail" that could only be seen in grainy scans on the Internet. It was eventually confirmed that during the 1950s, a time period during which Breguet was not creating many watches of any type, Breguet released a limited number of time-only watches powered by this legendary movement. In recent years a few have finally surfaced.
While uncommon in any metal, the vast majority of the watches powered by Peseux 260s created by Breguet were released in yellow gold. They did, however, create a few in stainless steel, this being one of them. This timepiece is known simply as "the 1276" within the house of Breguet, which number is stamped on both the movement and the case back. So few of these timepieces were created by Breguet that they all received a unique identifying number. According to the archives of Breguet, the present watch was manufactured in 1953 and sold on December 31, 1953. Beyond being one of only a few known stainless steel Breguet P260s in existence today, what makes this watch even more special is the dial. Breguet deviated from its traditional look with this one going with more of a simple dial rather than what is commonly referred to a as a "Breguet dial". We have never seen another like this one.
An opportunity to acquire any time-only Breguet from the early to mid-20th century is special, but the chance to acquire a possibly-unique stainless steel Breguet powered by the legendary Peseux 260 is perhaps once in a lifetime. It is a watch that is worthy of the moniker "grail."