Auctions: Phillips New York Is Offering A Unique Dufour Grande et Petite Sonnerie This Weekend – Here’s What Makes It So Special

There are a few watches I’ll go out of my way to see any chance I get. A good number of those watches are made by Philippe Dufour, who will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest watchmakers of our era. And then there are the rarest of those, the Grande et Petite Sonneries. I’ve been lucky to see three of the eight ever made, all of which are special in their ways. All of them are incredible watches – the first miniaturization of the most challenging and storied complications – but three specific examples are particularly unusual (and only two have been seen publicly).

That’s what Phillips is offering this coming weekend in New York as lot 12 of their sale: a chance to get one of Dufour’s least-produced watches – his Grande et Petite Sonnerie – in his rarest version with a unique configuration. Rare on rare on rare. The watch features an open sapphire dial revealing the incredible finishing that made Dufour a legend, with a rose gold outer track and heated maroon-tinted hands. It’s also previously unknown and came to market pretty late in the season.

You could argue that the release of Philippe Dufour’s Grande et Petite Sonnerie in 1992 is one of the most important achievements in the modern era of watchmaking. At all two years old, I wasn’t buying watches then, so if you disagree with me, give me a little leeway to make that claim. In 1992, Dufour was making something few people could dream of doing. Then he finished the watch to a level that hadn’t been done before and has set the standard for everyone since. 

For the uninitiated, this Grande et Petite Sonnerie is a chiming watch with the option to chime the hour or the hours and quarters (or chime the time on request); plus, you have the option to silence the watch. It also has two gear trains, one for the “going” (time telling) and one for the chiming mechanism, preventing the loss of amplitude and accuracy when drawing power for the chime. Looking at the landscape of complicated high horology now, only a handful of brands have done what Dufour did 32 years ago, in an era before much of the technology that has simplified the measurements and calculations that underpin everything these days. He also did so in a period that was an arms race for complications, with everyone from AP to Patek to IWC trying to outdo each other.

Not only are there only a handful of brands that can claim a Grande Sonnerie, but you could probably count the total number capable of manufacturing and assembling one on your two hands. Last year, while visiting Bulgari’s manufacture in Le Sentier, I spoke with one of their four watchmakers in their sonnerie workshop. I asked him how many people – not brands – are actively working on sonneries. He looked up at the ceiling and started counting from the names he knew. “I think 10,” he said, more as a question than an answer. Wild.

Thanks to Dufour’s help, Phillips provided a chart documenting the eight sonneries he created. Though there’s an open question about whether No. 2 and No. 8 – both in white gold – have the same dial design (one has never been seen publicly), it’s probably a fair guess that every Dufour Sonnerie is unique. After the watch’s release in 1992, Dufour offered a new configuration in 1999 with a very modern sapphire crystal dial. Three of the eight examples were made in this general format, all with unique touches.

After working for years as a restorer and consultant for brands like Patek and AP, Dufour created five amazing Grande and Petite Sonnerie pocket watches for Audemars Piguet from 1982 to 1988. There was an unfortunate story about one of those watches, which was pretty much mangled by a car door. Legend has it this was a big motivation for Dufour to make watches under his name where he could make sure the watches went to clients that he trusted not to… well… slam his creations in car doors, I guess.

With a good eye for marketing, Dufour saw that he had to make something that wasn’t on the market so that he could capture attention. Making one of the world’s most difficult complications in wristwatch form sure counts. After three years of work to miniaturize the movement, he arrived at the watch we see here.

Dufour is quite clear that nothing he has done is secret or unique in watchmaking history. He takes great pride in building on the foundation of traditional watchmaking. The watch resembles a lot of early Victorin Piguet ebauchés and other Vallée de Joux watchmakers. The operation is incredibly simple; the crown winds two directions for either the time-keeping movement or the chiming mechanism, and a button in the crown triggers the minute repeater.

One of the most surprising details is that the watch was finished in 2016. There’s been debate online about the total number of Dualities produced by Dufour after a new, previously unknown piece appeared this fall at Phillips in Geneva, changing the scholarship on that watch. For the Sonnerie, however, there were only eight ébauches made to begin with. All were cased, and all are accounted for.

I had what I imagine might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see two Dufour Sonneries (No. 5 and No. 7) next to each other earlier this year – from the same collection, no less – which also is a great chance to highlight the differences between this “unique classic” case design, the general classic case design, and the “updated” case design mentioned by Phillips’ research.

If you look at the more traditional No. 5 Sonnerie, you see the early Dufour aesthetic that carried over to a lot of the Simplicities, with the moon/Breguet-style hands and Roman numerals. You’ll also notice the switches on the right side of the case, operating the “Silent/Sound” and “Grand/Petite” selectors for the watch. This is the most traditional style of case design for Sonneries and what was used for the No. 7 at Phillips.

The sapphire dials are a radical departure. In fact, I’d argue this is the least Dufour-esque design out of anything he’s made (not that he’s made a lot). The sapphire dial No. 7 has blued “heavy spade and whip” style hands and an exterior track with numerals. These sapphire dials are some of the least legible things I’ve ever seen, but they present an amazing opportunity to look at how Dufour finished every single piece (dial side and back) to the highest possible level.

The most obvious difference between No. 5 and No. 7 (aside from the colors used) is on the back. No. 8, the watch at Phillips has an officer’s caseback, hiding/protecting the movement. The rear of the movement features these beautifully flowing and yet pointed bridges and giant flat surfaces with immaculate Geneva stripes. That said, most of the action is on the dial side – the design of most sonneries doesn’t show a lot of the movement levers and bridges. This is the only watch he made with an open dial and a hinged back together.

The back of No. 5 is open, but the dial side is subtly different in more than just the colors used. This is the “updated” case design, so there are no sliding levers on the caseband. Instead, they’re hidden under a hinged bezel, cleaning up the case design (at the expense of a much more complicated case).

The estimate for the model offered at Phillips this weekend is “in excess of $2 million.” As insane as this is to say, even at $2,000,001, it would be a steal for this watch. A pink gold version of the watch was initially delivered in 1995 to the Sultan of Brunei and sold for $7.63 million via A Collected Man in 2021. The market is different now, so it’s hard to guess what the watch will do. F.P. Journe’s second-ever wristwatch beat ACM’s Dufour as the most expensive independent watch ever sold. It’s possible that the narrative around F.P.Journe’s history made it an easier sell to a broader audience. Either way, Phillips will still hold the top slot after the weekend is over.

​Hodinkee 

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