A similar watch was sold by Antiquorum in Genva, November 1, 1998, lot 397.The Maharaja of Patiala is portrayed on this watch in full attire, with a magnificent sarpech and necklace, and he is also wearing several medals and decorations including The Star of India, which he was awarded on May 28, 1870.The Maharaja's full title was: Lieut.-Gen. H. H. Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia, Mansure-i-Zaman, Amir-il-Umra, Maharaja Dhiraj Raj Rajeshwar Shree, Maharaja-i-Rajgan Maharaja Sir Bhupindra Singh, Mohinder Bahadur, Yadu Vanshavatans Bhatti Kul Bhushan, Maharaja Dhiraj of Patiala, G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., G.C.V.O., G.B.E. He was ruling Prince of Patiala State from 1891 to 1938.The Princely State of Patiala is in the Punjab, in N. W. India, and was the largest Sikh State. The British occupied Punjab in 1849 and later designated it a province.The Maharaja of Patiala appreciated precious objects, jewelry and of course watches. From about 1925 he is known to have been one of the great clients of Cartier and indeed commissioned Cartier to remodel his crown jewels, probably the biggest commission of all time in terms of quality and quantity. In 1929, before consigning the elegant reworkings to the Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala, Cartier organised a splendid exhibition of the Maharaja's jewels, in Paris, at the rue de la Paix, which attractewide publicity.As mentioned in an article in the Antiquarian Horology issue of December 1984, p. 156, the Maharaja had many interests among which "shooting, cricket, polo and motoring, and he was one of the first in India to have an automobile, a French De Dion Bouton, in 1898. He was also the first Indian prince to have a 20 h.p. Rolls Royce; a 1922 Barker Tourer on a chassis 42 G2. Nine further examples of this model were added to his collection which at one time totalled thirty eight Rolls Royce cars!".*Literature:- Antiquarian Horology, Number Two, Volume Fifteen, December 1984, pp. 147-156, article entitled "A Rare Complicated Watch By Piguet, circa 1910" by R. Good. The front cover of this issue of Antiquarian Horology features a portrait of The Maharajah of Patiala.- *: The information quoted from the December 1984 issue of Antiquarian Horology, came from John M. Fasal's bookThe Rolls Royce Twenty, published by the author in 1979.- Cartier, Le Joaillier du Platine, by Franco Cologni and Eric Nussbaum, La Bibliothèque des Arts, Paris-Lausanne, 1995,p. 39, illustrated on p. 34.- The Magical Art of Cartier, theme auction catalogue by Antiquorum and Etude Tajan, Geneva, November 19, 1996,p. 265.