The present timepiece is an extra-ordinary example of the kind of innovative display systems that watchmakers pursued during the Art Deco period. The jump hour complication a feature hitherto only seen in pocketwatches and was developed by Austrian engineer Josef Pallweber in 1883. In the 1920s, most of the big names in watchmaking including Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and Breguet produced wristwatches that featured the jump hour complication – apertures in the dial displayed the hour indication which changed instantaneously or “jumped” at the stroke of the hour.

While most jump hour wristwatches, like the Cartier Tank à Guichet, featured a closed dial with apertures for the hours near the 12 o’ clock position and an aperture for “wandering” minutes, the present timepiece at first glance appears to have a more conventional dial display. However the hours is indicated via an aperture just above the 6 o’ clock position and a solitary minutes hand completes a rotation of the dial each hour.

The case is made from Osmior, an ancient alloy that produces a metal with a colour comparable to platinum. It’s interesting to note that though white gold was invented in the 19^th century, it only gained popularity in the mid-1920s as a low-cost substitute for platinum. No longer used in the watchmaking industry, Osmior was also referred to as faux-platinum by jewellers. The case has developed a lovely patina over its hundred odd years of existence.

According the heritage department at Breguet, the watch was made in 1926 and was sold two years later on January 18, 1928, for 5,000 Francs to a Mr. Haïtas. A wonderful throwback to a bygone era, it is believed that Breguet only produced approximately 50 jump hour watches in the last century, thus making this a real trophy for the discerning collector.

Provenance: The New York Watch Auction Six, Phillips, June 2022