Dufour is a Swiss watchmaker and is described as a ‘modern master’ of the craft. The final Grande et Petite Sonnerie made by Dufour will appear at auction on 7-8 December with a presale estimate of $USD2 million ($AUD3.03 million).
The watch was created in 2016 and is one of just eight, with Dufour’s lifetime production estimated at around 250. It features a sapphire crystal diamond and a half-hunter case which can be flipped open to reveal the movement.
“In 1992, Dufour introduced the first wristwatch to ever feature a grand and petite sonnerie, a holy grail of complications,” writes Victoria Gomelsky of Robb Report.
“Four years later, Dufour unveiled the Duality, and four years after that, the Simplicity, two models that further cemented his status as a horological maestro. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that in the process, he reshaped the watchmaking landscape.”
Another Grande et Petite Sonnerie was sold at auction in 2021 for $USD9.9 million ($AUD15 million). That timepiece was created in 1995 for the Sultan of Brunei.
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