Lot 217

Audemars Piguet

John Shaeffer Repetition Minutes

An exceptional Geneva wristwatch, limited to just 25 pieces, with minute repeater and jumping digital hour display

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The Audemars Piguet reference 25798, a.k.a. "John Shaeffer Repetition Minutes" is an extremely rare and exquisite wrist watch launched by the manufactory in Le Brassus in the early 1990s. The edition was limited to 25 pieces and inspired by a cushion-shaped minute repeater watch created in 1906 for the famous American industrialist John Wallace Schaeffer. Audemars Piguet kept the form of the case, while the shape is a little wider and rounder than that of the original. The dial features a digital time display with jumping hours and minutes, which are shown in a square window for the hours and a fan-shaped window for the minutes on the front of the watch. This unconventional layout ensures a clear and easy readability of the time. The time is additionally indicated acoustically by the minute repeater - a highly complicated function which is rarely found in wristwatches, The lateral slide on the case activates two hammers in the movement, which strike two gongs. First one hammer strikes a low tone gong which counts out the hours. Both hammers then strike both gongs alternately to count out the quarter hours after that hour; after that the second hammer alone strikes a higher tone gong to count out the minutes after that quarter hour. The repeating mechanism was developed by Daniel Quare. Quare patented a mechanism that sounded the hours and the quarters in 1686. Early repeaters used bells; two bent-wire gongs became the more popular mechanism at the end of the 18th century. Omega produced the first minute repeater wristwatch in 1892 as a model with a round case.
The Audemars Piguet "John Shaeffer Repetition Minutes" is a masterpiece of haute horlogerie, impressing with a unique design, the rare minute repeater complication and the very limited edition. The watch represents the Audemars Piguet brand’s innovative power and craftsmanship. It always was and will be forever a highly valued treasure for watch lovers and collectors worldwide.