Inventions
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Space Incunabula Birth of automobile Chinese porcelain Qing porcelain Early Qing Tiffany Studios Leica Computing
Chronology : 18th century 1710-1719 1884 1923
See also : Space Incunabula Birth of automobile Chinese porcelain Qing porcelain Early Qing Tiffany Studios Leica Computing
Chronology : 18th century 1710-1719 1884 1923
1455 Gutenberg Bible
1987 SOLD for $ 5.4M by Christie's
The 42-line Bible is the first book printed in Europe with the movable type technique in a printing press, developed by Gutenberg in Mainz from 1450. The first edition is available in 1455. Gutenberg goes bankrupt in 1456 after the justice court decided that the investment should be returned to Fust.
The work is divided into two volumes, respectively covering the Old and New Testaments in the Latin text of the Vulgate, with a total of 1,282 pages 42 x 30 cm in double folio format printed on both sides. Printing is done in black ink in two columns per page. The typography imitates handwriting. The color decoration and rubrication are not printed but a guide could be provided to the purchaser.
The original edition produced under the supervision of Gutenberg is estimated at 150 copies on paper plus 30 copies on vellum. 21 complete copies have survived, plus 13 limited to one of the two volumes and another 15 with several missing leaves.
On October 22, 1987, Christie's sold for $ 5.4M a Volume I on paper, clean and fresh in its original Mainz binding. This book is currently kept at a private university in Japan.
The work is divided into two volumes, respectively covering the Old and New Testaments in the Latin text of the Vulgate, with a total of 1,282 pages 42 x 30 cm in double folio format printed on both sides. Printing is done in black ink in two columns per page. The typography imitates handwriting. The color decoration and rubrication are not printed but a guide could be provided to the purchaser.
The original edition produced under the supervision of Gutenberg is estimated at 150 copies on paper plus 30 copies on vellum. 21 complete copies have survived, plus 13 limited to one of the two volumes and another 15 with several missing leaves.
On October 22, 1987, Christie's sold for $ 5.4M a Volume I on paper, clean and fresh in its original Mainz binding. This book is currently kept at a private university in Japan.
1711 Kangxi Falangcai Porcelain
1
prototype
2025 SOLD for HK$ 33.6M by Sotheby's
The Kangxi Emperor and King Louis XIV had similar ambitions. They decided in 1684 to share their scientific and cultural knowledge through Jesuits who accepted the customs of imperial China. The French were interested in brocades and chopsticks and the Chinese in using enamels to cover copper and glass.
The activity is developed in a workshop of the Forbidden City under the direct control of the emperor. A new glassmaker arrived in 1695 brings with him the enamels invented by the alchemists to create splendid colors with colloidal gold. The glass pieces colored with the enamel of the foreigners (in Chinese : falangcai) serve as diplomatic gifts.
Chinese craftsmen joined the Jesuits of the imperial workshop around 1711 to develop a mixed technology of the highest luxury. Meanwhile the potters of Jingdezhen were working with the limited color range of the wucai for a purpose of productivity.
Chinese porcelain was unknown in Europe and the Jesuits considered it impossible to affix the enamel over the glaze. After the failure of trials using pre-existing white wares, porcelains were supplied incompletely glazed to Beijing from Jingdezhen for the painting of the outside wall and the base with the colors unavailable at Jingdezhen. A final heating completed the process.
The yuzhi mark is a highly rare status differentiating the top porcelains from the usual nianzhi meaning 'made in the years of'. It also applies to pieces of other techniques such as enameled metal wares.
The yangcai will be the complete mastery of the falangcai process at Jingdezhen around the sixth year of the Yongzheng emperor, 1729 CE. The participation of foreigners will no longer be necessary.
A 12.5 cm red ground falangcai bowl with a blue yuzhi mark of Kangxi has the same overall shape as the example above, including a gently flared rim and a short foot. This early example was prepared in Jingdezhen without glazing the outer wall before its full layering with the European enamels in the imperial workshops in Beijing and a second firing therein.
The ruby red is achieved by inclusion of colloidal gold. The wall is decorated with four baroque cartouches, each one featuring a vibrant bloom on bright yellow ground overall matching the four season floral theme : a lilac pomegranate, a pink peony, a pink and green hollyhock and a deep purple camellia, displayed with their matching buds and leaves.
The intense egg yellow of the panels and the royal blue of the flowers are only found on the earliest Kangxi falangcai wares, and are fully different from the much weaker yellows and blues of the Jingdezhen yingcai. The process was not reused on later falangcai.
Also the purple shows in places a golden sheen of not fully dissolved gold particles, assessing on that piece the earliest mastering phase of the falangcai. The experimental falangcai pieces kept at the Taipei Imperial Museum display a higher maturity of the process, with no trace of gold at magnifications lower than 50 times.
The surface division into four sectors with a floral design is also unprecedented, a consequence of the lack of experience of European artists in the painting of rounded surfaces. The blue flowers inserted between the panels are presented from different angles, showing their undersides, profiles and inner centres all at the same time, with no other example known.
This bowl was sold for HK $ 33.6M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2025, lot 3638, to benefit the acquisition fund of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The activity is developed in a workshop of the Forbidden City under the direct control of the emperor. A new glassmaker arrived in 1695 brings with him the enamels invented by the alchemists to create splendid colors with colloidal gold. The glass pieces colored with the enamel of the foreigners (in Chinese : falangcai) serve as diplomatic gifts.
Chinese craftsmen joined the Jesuits of the imperial workshop around 1711 to develop a mixed technology of the highest luxury. Meanwhile the potters of Jingdezhen were working with the limited color range of the wucai for a purpose of productivity.
Chinese porcelain was unknown in Europe and the Jesuits considered it impossible to affix the enamel over the glaze. After the failure of trials using pre-existing white wares, porcelains were supplied incompletely glazed to Beijing from Jingdezhen for the painting of the outside wall and the base with the colors unavailable at Jingdezhen. A final heating completed the process.
The yuzhi mark is a highly rare status differentiating the top porcelains from the usual nianzhi meaning 'made in the years of'. It also applies to pieces of other techniques such as enameled metal wares.
The yangcai will be the complete mastery of the falangcai process at Jingdezhen around the sixth year of the Yongzheng emperor, 1729 CE. The participation of foreigners will no longer be necessary.
A 12.5 cm red ground falangcai bowl with a blue yuzhi mark of Kangxi has the same overall shape as the example above, including a gently flared rim and a short foot. This early example was prepared in Jingdezhen without glazing the outer wall before its full layering with the European enamels in the imperial workshops in Beijing and a second firing therein.
The ruby red is achieved by inclusion of colloidal gold. The wall is decorated with four baroque cartouches, each one featuring a vibrant bloom on bright yellow ground overall matching the four season floral theme : a lilac pomegranate, a pink peony, a pink and green hollyhock and a deep purple camellia, displayed with their matching buds and leaves.
The intense egg yellow of the panels and the royal blue of the flowers are only found on the earliest Kangxi falangcai wares, and are fully different from the much weaker yellows and blues of the Jingdezhen yingcai. The process was not reused on later falangcai.
Also the purple shows in places a golden sheen of not fully dissolved gold particles, assessing on that piece the earliest mastering phase of the falangcai. The experimental falangcai pieces kept at the Taipei Imperial Museum display a higher maturity of the process, with no trace of gold at magnifications lower than 50 times.
The surface division into four sectors with a floral design is also unprecedented, a consequence of the lack of experience of European artists in the painting of rounded surfaces. The blue flowers inserted between the panels are presented from different angles, showing their undersides, profiles and inner centres all at the same time, with no other example known.
This bowl was sold for HK $ 33.6M by Sotheby's on May 7, 2025, lot 3638, to benefit the acquisition fund of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
2
pale pink ground
2018 SOLD for HK$ 240M by Sotheby's
One of the rarest ground colors of the falangcai is a pale pink with colloidal gold. Two 14.7 cm diameter bowls, each one decorated with four lobed cartridges showing flowers in front of a blue sky, were probably made side by side. They carry the yuzhi mark of Kangxi. The floral themes are however different, attesting to a close cooperation between Chinese and European artists. The bowl kept at the National Palace Museum in Taipei follows the traditional Chinese auspices of the four seasons.
It was sold for HK $ 240M by Sotheby's on April 3, 2018, lot 1. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house. The pairing bowl is of European decoration, displaying flowers without symbolic meaning and a perspective effect that is not usual in traditional Chinese art.
It was sold for HK $ 240M by Sotheby's on April 3, 2018, lot 1. Please watch the short video shared by the auction house. The pairing bowl is of European decoration, displaying flowers without symbolic meaning and a perspective effect that is not usual in traditional Chinese art.
1884 La Marquise
2011 SOLD for $ 4.6M by RM Auctions
The meeting between the aristocrat de Dion and the mechanical engineers Bouton and Trépardoux was successful. The steam had proved effective with the locomotives. By developing a propulsion system of small volume that could be mounted on a tricycle or quadricycle, the team actually invented the automobile.
La Marquise, made in 1884, with two pairs of different-size wheels, is the first successful prototype and is still the oldest car capable of running. Its general shape is already not like a boiler, but that of a real car.
In 1887, La Marquise won the first event considered as a car race between Paris and Versailles, without difficulty because it was the only competitor.
Yet the experiments of Benz, begun in 1885, would soon show that the petrol engine was a better choice than steam.
La Marquise was a sensation at Pebble Beach on August 19, 2007, when it was sold $ 3.5M by Gooding from an estimate of $ 1.5 M. It was sold for $ 4.6M on October 7, 2011 by RM Auctions. Please watch the video shared before the sale by RM Auctions :
La Marquise, made in 1884, with two pairs of different-size wheels, is the first successful prototype and is still the oldest car capable of running. Its general shape is already not like a boiler, but that of a real car.
In 1887, La Marquise won the first event considered as a car race between Paris and Versailles, without difficulty because it was the only competitor.
Yet the experiments of Benz, begun in 1885, would soon show that the petrol engine was a better choice than steam.
La Marquise was a sensation at Pebble Beach on August 19, 2007, when it was sold $ 3.5M by Gooding from an estimate of $ 1.5 M. It was sold for $ 4.6M on October 7, 2011 by RM Auctions. Please watch the video shared before the sale by RM Auctions :
1900 Favrile Glass by Tiffany Studios
2021 SOLD for $ 3.75M by Rago
In 1900 skilled craftsmen rush from everywhere in the world to display their achievements at the Exposition Universelle de Paris.
In New York the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company develops various techniques for the growing market of the lighting. Their very own recently patented favrile glass displaying bright colors is awarded a Grand Prix at that Exposition. The color glass pieces are pressed in the bulk between layers of molten glass.
Tiffany operates also a production line for bronze casting, for enameling and will soon have one for ceramics.
The 75 cm high Dandelion lamp is one of the masterpieces conceived especially by Tiffany for the Paris Exposition. In 1901 it will also be displayed at the Pan American in Buffalo. At the same time in France, Gallé was inspired by all current forms of nature and highlighting a mere dandelion was in the fashion of the time.
The lamp is a glass globe 29 cm in diameter atop a tall and narrow copper base. It is not enameled and its technical feat is not in the blown white glass engraved with a flow of seeds but in the copper, intricately hammered with all the growing elements of a dandelion and displaying a variety of patinations by oxidizing.
The production process was time consuming. After making a replica of the dandelion, no other unit will be made. From 1901 the assembly of a shade with hundreds of small colored favrile plaques is the solution for developing the highly successful production line of the Tiffany lamps, farther from botanical realism but more appealing to the customers.
The original Dandelion lamp has just resurfaced. It was sold for $ 3.75M by Rago on May 13, 2021, lot 273 here linked on the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
In New York the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company develops various techniques for the growing market of the lighting. Their very own recently patented favrile glass displaying bright colors is awarded a Grand Prix at that Exposition. The color glass pieces are pressed in the bulk between layers of molten glass.
Tiffany operates also a production line for bronze casting, for enameling and will soon have one for ceramics.
The 75 cm high Dandelion lamp is one of the masterpieces conceived especially by Tiffany for the Paris Exposition. In 1901 it will also be displayed at the Pan American in Buffalo. At the same time in France, Gallé was inspired by all current forms of nature and highlighting a mere dandelion was in the fashion of the time.
The lamp is a glass globe 29 cm in diameter atop a tall and narrow copper base. It is not enameled and its technical feat is not in the blown white glass engraved with a flow of seeds but in the copper, intricately hammered with all the growing elements of a dandelion and displaying a variety of patinations by oxidizing.
The production process was time consuming. After making a replica of the dandelion, no other unit will be made. From 1901 the assembly of a shade with hundreds of small colored favrile plaques is the solution for developing the highly successful production line of the Tiffany lamps, farther from botanical realism but more appealing to the customers.
The original Dandelion lamp has just resurfaced. It was sold for $ 3.75M by Rago on May 13, 2021, lot 273 here linked on the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
Tiffany Studios Dandelion lamp, 1900, hand-blown Favrile glass & hammered & patinated copper, 29½" H x 11½" D, sold for $3,745,000 (est $50,000/75,000), setting a new auction record for a Tiffany Lamp https://t.co/GbVsxkrHkD #antiques #antique #vintage #Tiffany #lamp #lamps pic.twitter.com/BvfxkqWbzJ
— Maine Antique Digest (@AntiqueDigest) July 30, 2021
1923 Leica Null-Series
Intro
The Leica has propelled photography into the modern world. The idea was to provide a compact and handy camera using the 35 mm motion picture film.
In 1911 Oskar (Oscar) Barnack was hired by Leitz. Founded in the mid-19th century, the Optische Werke Ernst Leitz company established in Wetzlar specialized in precision mechanics for optical instruments.
In the development phase of the cinema, setting the exposure time was an issue. To test it Barnack has the idea in 1913 to insert a 35 mm flexible film horizontally in a still camera. He builds two prototypes of this Leca that will later be spelled Leica for Leitz Camera. The horizontal position makes it possible to use 8 perforations per frame instead of 4 for the vertical rolling in a movie camera. The 24 x 36 mm was born.
Until then the usual practice for positive photography had been the contact printing. Barnack loves hiking but he is sick and must avoid heavy equipment. He considers reusing his miniature 24 x 36 mm format. The positives will be achieved by enlargement. He makes a third prototype between 1918 and 1920.
Barnack convinces his boss Ernst Leitz II to continue this innovative experience. To evaluate the feasibility of a production and to test the market, Leitz authorizes in 1923 a small series of 31 cameras numbered from 100 to 130, the 0-Series (in German : Nullserie) of the Leica. It seems that some of these numbers were not finally used for an estimated total of 22 units. A dozen are surviving.
The 0-Series Leica has some improvements compared to its three precursors, including to allow loading and unloading the film in daylight. The lens cover is now essential for not fogging the film when arming.
Thus was born the 24 x 36 mm picture size, which was the most universally used before the digital image. Two years later, the Leica A opened the road of success to these "Leitz cameras".
Excellent lenses and robust mechanics enabled the photographers, amateurs and professionals, to easily realize quality images.
In 1911 Oskar (Oscar) Barnack was hired by Leitz. Founded in the mid-19th century, the Optische Werke Ernst Leitz company established in Wetzlar specialized in precision mechanics for optical instruments.
In the development phase of the cinema, setting the exposure time was an issue. To test it Barnack has the idea in 1913 to insert a 35 mm flexible film horizontally in a still camera. He builds two prototypes of this Leca that will later be spelled Leica for Leitz Camera. The horizontal position makes it possible to use 8 perforations per frame instead of 4 for the vertical rolling in a movie camera. The 24 x 36 mm was born.
Until then the usual practice for positive photography had been the contact printing. Barnack loves hiking but he is sick and must avoid heavy equipment. He considers reusing his miniature 24 x 36 mm format. The positives will be achieved by enlargement. He makes a third prototype between 1918 and 1920.
Barnack convinces his boss Ernst Leitz II to continue this innovative experience. To evaluate the feasibility of a production and to test the market, Leitz authorizes in 1923 a small series of 31 cameras numbered from 100 to 130, the 0-Series (in German : Nullserie) of the Leica. It seems that some of these numbers were not finally used for an estimated total of 22 units. A dozen are surviving.
The 0-Series Leica has some improvements compared to its three precursors, including to allow loading and unloading the film in daylight. The lens cover is now essential for not fogging the film when arming.
Thus was born the 24 x 36 mm picture size, which was the most universally used before the digital image. Two years later, the Leica A opened the road of success to these "Leitz cameras".
Excellent lenses and robust mechanics enabled the photographers, amateurs and professionals, to easily realize quality images.
1
No. 105
2022 SOLD for € 14.4M by Leitz Photographica
The No. 105 was the personal camera of Oskar Barnack who used it extensively until he switched to a Leica I-C with interchangeable lenses in 1930. It remained in his family until 1960. Some elements have been changed by its early users.
# 105 was sold for € 14.4M from a lower estimate of € 2M for sale on June 5, 2022 by WestLicht renamed Leitz Photographica, lot 5. Documents and letters are joined to that lot that also includes a Nettel camera that Barnack heavily modified for his photographic research and development.
# 105 was sold for € 14.4M from a lower estimate of € 2M for sale on June 5, 2022 by WestLicht renamed Leitz Photographica, lot 5. Documents and letters are joined to that lot that also includes a Nettel camera that Barnack heavily modified for his photographic research and development.
NEW WORLD RECORD! #Leica 0-series no.105 sold for:
— Leica Camera AG (@leica_camera) June 11, 2022
14,400,000 EUR (including buyers premium)
at the 40th #LeitzPhotographicaAuction
The 105 has thus broken the world record for the most expensive camera of all times! pic.twitter.com/3lTDQGUnpr
2
No. 122
2018 SOLD for € 2.4M by WestLicht
In B+ condition the Leica 122 is one of the best preserved of the series. Its lens cover, folding viewfinder and paintwork are original.
It was sold for € 2.4M from a lower estimate of € 700K by WestLicht on March 10, 2018, lot 3 here linked to the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
It was sold for € 2.4M from a lower estimate of € 700K by WestLicht on March 10, 2018, lot 3 here linked to the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
2.9 million! The Leica 0-series camera of 1923 sold by Westlicht (@WestLichtVienna) for a record $2,952,670 https://t.co/4T3CGKW40C #antiques #antique #auction #camera #photo #photography #Leica #art #record pic.twitter.com/Sa6piIVrpY
— Maine Antique Digest (@AntiqueDigest) May 31, 2018
1961 Vostok Capsule
2011 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Sotheby's
Sputnik 1 demonstrated in October 1957 the feasibility of orbital flights. It was only a small sphere of 58 cm in diameter, but the Soviets had other plans ready in their boxes.
Only a month later, Sputnik 2, a large conical capsule of 4 meters high and 2 meters in diameter at the base, established unequivocally that the goal of the Soviets was a successful manned flight.
The death of the dog Laika during the flight of Sputnik 2 showed that this test was premature. The Russians, embarrassed by this event, waited 45 years to confess that her death was due to excessive heat. Anyway, the martyred dog would not have passed the conditions of reentry.
Thereafter the program was held step by step. In August 1960, two dogs, a rabbit, two rats and 42 mice came back alive after a full day in orbit.
The Soviets were now ready to send the first cosmonaut in space. Becoming cautious, they made a last rehearsal on March 25, 1961, with the dog Zvezdochka aboard Sputnik 10. The success of this mission provided the green light for the flight of Gagarin on April 12, 1961.
Half a century has passed since that historic flight. On April 12, 2011, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.9M the Vostok 3KA-2 capsule used for the Sputnik 10 mission. This prestigious carcass was emptied for a long time of its equipment.
It is identical to Gagarin's capsule, and unique of its kind on the market. Its price is hard to predict.
Only a month later, Sputnik 2, a large conical capsule of 4 meters high and 2 meters in diameter at the base, established unequivocally that the goal of the Soviets was a successful manned flight.
The death of the dog Laika during the flight of Sputnik 2 showed that this test was premature. The Russians, embarrassed by this event, waited 45 years to confess that her death was due to excessive heat. Anyway, the martyred dog would not have passed the conditions of reentry.
Thereafter the program was held step by step. In August 1960, two dogs, a rabbit, two rats and 42 mice came back alive after a full day in orbit.
The Soviets were now ready to send the first cosmonaut in space. Becoming cautious, they made a last rehearsal on March 25, 1961, with the dog Zvezdochka aboard Sputnik 10. The success of this mission provided the green light for the flight of Gagarin on April 12, 1961.
Half a century has passed since that historic flight. On April 12, 2011, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.9M the Vostok 3KA-2 capsule used for the Sputnik 10 mission. This prestigious carcass was emptied for a long time of its equipment.
It is identical to Gagarin's capsule, and unique of its kind on the market. Its price is hard to predict.
1990-1991 and 2021 NFT www Source Code by Berners-Lee
2021 SOLD for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's
Tim Berners-Lee was born in London to a family of computer scientists. Trained as a physicist and experienced in software, he is hired in 1984 at the CERN, the European research organization in particle physics, based near Geneva, which was a leading user of the Internet in its infancy.
Providing the CERN staff worldwide with an easy access to scientific information would be highly beneficial to their research. In parallel to his professional duties, Berners-Lee conceives in 1989 to join hyper-text to the Internet. He is authorized by his boss to develop this project. His system is complete with all necessary protocols and languages for the texts and their remote access (HTTP, HTML, URL).
It works. This mesh of informations looks like an infinite spider web. Berners-Lee designates in 1990 his HTML browser as the WorldWideWeb. The web software is offered by the CERN to the public domain on April 30, 1993. 'Sir Tim' was knighted in 2004.
Our global computer based civilization was born with Berners-Lee's web. A promising recent development is the NFT, the first protocol able to offer a guarantee of authenticity to a digital file, whatever it is, including artistic and historical.
On June 15, 2021 Sir Tim minted an NFT-supported digital file gathering elements of his invention from the key period 1990-1991. It edits in totality the original 9,555 line source code of the World Wide Web and the user guide in HTML. Sir Tim added a graphic and a video representations of the code and a 2021 letter reflecting about his creation process for that invention.
The Berners-Lee 1/1 file of the www source code was sold for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's on June 30, 2021, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
Providing the CERN staff worldwide with an easy access to scientific information would be highly beneficial to their research. In parallel to his professional duties, Berners-Lee conceives in 1989 to join hyper-text to the Internet. He is authorized by his boss to develop this project. His system is complete with all necessary protocols and languages for the texts and their remote access (HTTP, HTML, URL).
It works. This mesh of informations looks like an infinite spider web. Berners-Lee designates in 1990 his HTML browser as the WorldWideWeb. The web software is offered by the CERN to the public domain on April 30, 1993. 'Sir Tim' was knighted in 2004.
Our global computer based civilization was born with Berners-Lee's web. A promising recent development is the NFT, the first protocol able to offer a guarantee of authenticity to a digital file, whatever it is, including artistic and historical.
On June 15, 2021 Sir Tim minted an NFT-supported digital file gathering elements of his invention from the key period 1990-1991. It edits in totality the original 9,555 line source code of the World Wide Web and the user guide in HTML. Sir Tim added a graphic and a video representations of the code and a 2021 letter reflecting about his creation process for that invention.
The Berners-Lee 1/1 file of the www source code was sold for $ 5.4M by Sotheby's on June 30, 2021, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
2018 Atomic Mechanical Control by Urwerk
2019 SOLD for $ 2.9M by Phillips
The advancement of timekeepers includes the complications, of course, but also the search for the best accuracy. In the last century, for George Daniels, Abraham-Louis Breguet remained the absolute reference for mechanical watchmaking. Urwerk, a Swiss brand created in 1997, takes over.
One of Breguet's most avant-garde designs was the Breguet Sympathique, a pocket watch that did not need to be touched for winding, time setting and regulation. When its power reserve approached depletion, it was inserted into a clock to which it was mechanically coupled. The word Sympathique is an evocation of the coupling, by its etymology meaning 'functioning by affinity'.
Obtaining the three settings simultaneously was a mechanical feat that was achieved by his workshop for the duc d'Orléans in 1835, twelve years after Breguet's death. Restarted to working condition by Daniels in the 1970s, the complete system was sold by Sotheby's in 2012.
The Urwerk AMC (Atomic Mechanical Control) system unveiled in 2018 at Baselworld Miami is an adaptation of the Sympathique to the modern technologies. Without a direct application identified, this technical feat paves the way for new developments.
The time reference is provided by a 45 x 30 x 18 cm atomic clock weighing 35 Kg. It uses the quantum energy transitions of the rubidium atom, known by physicists to provide the best stability with a 1 second error for 317 years when it is associated with a garnet of yttrium and iron. It provides the stability of a wristwatch by coupling, without manual winding, without quartz, without battery.
Urwerk announced the production of the system in three units. A price of $ 2.7M was announced in period on the web by a specialized website. The titanium mechanical watch with the serial number 001 associated with its atomic clock was sold for $ 2.9M by Phillips on December 10, 2019, lot 8.
One of Breguet's most avant-garde designs was the Breguet Sympathique, a pocket watch that did not need to be touched for winding, time setting and regulation. When its power reserve approached depletion, it was inserted into a clock to which it was mechanically coupled. The word Sympathique is an evocation of the coupling, by its etymology meaning 'functioning by affinity'.
Obtaining the three settings simultaneously was a mechanical feat that was achieved by his workshop for the duc d'Orléans in 1835, twelve years after Breguet's death. Restarted to working condition by Daniels in the 1970s, the complete system was sold by Sotheby's in 2012.
The Urwerk AMC (Atomic Mechanical Control) system unveiled in 2018 at Baselworld Miami is an adaptation of the Sympathique to the modern technologies. Without a direct application identified, this technical feat paves the way for new developments.
The time reference is provided by a 45 x 30 x 18 cm atomic clock weighing 35 Kg. It uses the quantum energy transitions of the rubidium atom, known by physicists to provide the best stability with a 1 second error for 317 years when it is associated with a garnet of yttrium and iron. It provides the stability of a wristwatch by coupling, without manual winding, without quartz, without battery.
Urwerk announced the production of the system in three units. A price of $ 2.7M was announced in period on the web by a specialized website. The titanium mechanical watch with the serial number 001 associated with its atomic clock was sold for $ 2.9M by Phillips on December 10, 2019, lot 8.
