PREVIEW: WATCHES: 10 MARCH

The Breitling partnership with luxury British car manufacturer Bentley ran for 20 years, starting in 2002 when the two brands joined forces to design the onboard clock for the first ever Bentley Continental GT.

It proved to be an extraordinarily creative and ground-breaking partnership, as highlights from Noonans’ Watches auctions have amply illustrated in recent years. This latest outing is no exception, with two examples from the partnership.

The first is a c.2010 gold and diamond-set tourbillion chronograph wristwatch with mother-of-pearl dial, and skeletonised subsidiary dials for 15-minute register and date. The tourbillon mechanism is designed to counteract the effects of gravity on the watch’s accuracy by rotating the escapement and balance wheel. As here, the tourbillon is usually visible via an aperture in the dial so the wearer can admire the rhythmic precision and exquisite construction.

The combination of a tourbillon and chronograph integrated into one watch is rare to find and such a complication exemplifies the horological mastery of their creation. With 18ct gold, screw-down sapphire crystal display and crown, diamond-set band and lugs, and bidirectional rotating bezel, it also comes with the original certificate, chronometer certificate and presentation case. The estimate is £20,000-30,000.

One of the most stylish designs to come out of the partnership was the Flying B model, named after the ‘Winged B’ emblem of Bentley which represents the exhilaration of motion and harks back to Bentley’s background in designing fighter plane engines during the World War I. This rectangular timepiece is a perfect example of unparalleled luxury and elegance with its unusual jumping hour hand feature and diamond-set dial and case.

A c.2010 pink gold and diamond-set Flying B forms another highlight in this sale. The gilt dial has diamond-set and mother-of-pearl indexes, a jumping hours aperture, subsidiary seconds, and a pavé diamond-set outer plate, as well as 18ct gold case and bracelet. It also comes with the original certificate, booklet and presentation case and is priced at £12,000-18,000.

The highlights include a third Breitling model: a c.2013 Transocean Unitime pink gold world time chronograph wristwatch, No. 267. It has a black dial with globe motif to centre, applied baton indexes, subsidiary dials for constant seconds, 30-minute and 12-hour registers, date aperture, outer world time indication and 24-hour disc. It is complete with 18ct pink gold case and 18ct gold buckle, and is accompanied by a warranty card, chronometer certificate, booklet and presentation case.
It carries hopes of £4,000-6,000.

A c.2020 stainless steel automatic Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust 41wristwatch with date and bracelet is expected to fetch £6,000-9,000.

Other notable watches for this auction include a c.1970 lady’s white gold and diamond-set bracelet by Jaeger-LeCoultre at £3,000-4,000; a c.1972 Patek Philippe lady’s rectangular white gold and diamond-set bracelet watch at £2,800-3,600; a c.1990 Cartier lady’s gold bracelet watch at £2,400-2,600; a c.2010 Cartier gold Tank Francaise, Chronoreflex wristwatch at £2,000-3,000; and a c.1915 early gold wristwatch by Patek Philippe & Cie, with moustache lever escapement and wolf tooth winding, also at £2,000-3,000.