The Vacheron Constantin minute repeater estimated at SFr400,000-800,000 at a Geneva auction on May 11-12.
The May 11-12 Geneva sale conducted by Phillips in association with watch consultancy Bacs & Russo includes one of the most complicated wristwatches of the pre-war era: the Vacheron Constantin minute repeater with retrograde calendar from 1940.
The whereabouts of the watch, well documented in the Vacheron Constantin archive in Geneva but previously only known from a black and white photo, was unknown. However, it turned out that the watch had been kept by the family of the original owner in a vault for over 60 years.