Philippe Dufour
A unique, historic and scholarship-changing platinum wristwatch with double escapement and certificate
Manufacturer : Philippe Dufour
Year : 2014
Movement No : 10
Model Name : Duality
Material : Brushed platinum
Calibre : Manual, cal. 10, 40 jewels
Bracelet/Strap : Alligator
Clasp/Buckle : Brushed platinum Philippe Dufour pin buckle
Dimensions : 34mm Diameter
Signed : Case, dial and movement signed
Accessories : Accompanied by Philippe Dufour International Guarantee and Certificate of Origin confirming this piece is unique To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, " there are things we know, things we don’t know and things we don’t know that we don’t know! " And the present unique Philippe Duality falls in the latter category.
For decades it was believed that Philippe Dufour had made only 9 Duality models, the present unique example is the scholarship changing unknown 10th example. Delivered in 2014 (close to a decade after it was ordered) the watch was made for one of Dufour’s most important and long standing collectors who had not managed to secure a Duality and for whom Dufour accepted to make a tenth and final piece but this time in a unique configuration of fully brushed platinum case, grey dial, pink gold indexes and hands and a movement finished to the nth degree in pure Dufour style but devoid of any engraving or inscription.
The Certificate of Origin confirms the unique status of the watch.
The Duality was introduced in 1996. Dufour’s second wristwatch was, like the Grande & Petite Sonnerie wristwatch, a world premiere: the world’s first wristwatch incorporating a double escapement (thus its name) featuring two independent balance wheels compensated with a central differential gear.
Having two balances connected in this way enables greater accuracy as it allows the balances to average out their rates. If one runs slightly faster and the other a bit slower, the rate variations would cancel each other out. Furthermore, this system produces less variation across all different positions.
Dufour’s inspiration for the Duality came from a school watch with double balance wheel featured in the Time Museum’s catalogue – and coincidentally, corresponding to the same school that Dufour graduated from, the Vallée de Joux Watchmaking School. This watch had a single gear train delivering power to two balance wheels through a differential.
After having miniaturized the Grande & Petite Sonnerie movement to fit inside a wristwatch, Dufour tackled the task of shrinking the differential into a caliber that could be housed within a wristwatch. The final result was nothing short of extraordinary, as he managed to shrink the differential mechanism to the size of a matchstick head, allowing the movement to feature two large balances beating in unison.
Dufour had planned on making 25 Duality timepieces, however, due to the complexity of making, assembling, and adjusting the movement, added to the fact that the market did not at the time grasp the importance and relevance of the timepiece, it was believed that he only made 9 and was no longer taking orders.
Dufour’s Duality is in fact a monumental achievement in wristwatch history. So important was its launch that it would inspire François-Paul Journe to revisit his own dual-escapement design – the Resonance, which he first attempted years earlier within a pocket watch. Four years after the Duality’s introduction, Journe would introduce the world’s first Resonance wristwatch.
Fresh to the market and offered by the original owner, the present unique Duality is one of the most important pieces of independent horological history.
