Important Collectors Watches, Pocket ...
Geneva, May 10, 2009
LOT 317
Minute Repeater Patek Philippe & Cie, Genève, movement No. 156929, case No. 265286. Made in 1910, sold on May 3, 1911. Extremely fine and rare, large and heavy, minute-repeating, 18K yellow gold, hunting-cased pocket watch. Accompanied by the original Patek Philippe mahogany fitted box, copy of the original Certificate of Origin, Extract from the Archives and spare mainspring.
CHF 25,000 - 35,000
USD 22,000 - 30,000 / EUR 16,000 - 23,000
Sold: CHF 25,200
C. Four-body, "demi-bassine", polished, the interior of the front cover with an engraved dedication. Hinged gold cuvette. D. White enamel with Breguet numerals, outer minute track and subsidiary seconds. Blued steel spade hands. M. 19''', rhodium-plated, fausses cotes decoration, 31 jewels, wolf's tooth winding, counterpoised straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance-spring with overcoil, swan-neck micrometer regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a slide on the band. Dial, case, cuvette and movement signed. Diam. 55 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: |
|
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 2* |
Very good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 1-01 |
As new HANDS Original |
Notes
What is a Minute Repeater? A minute repeating watch tells the time both visually and audibly. A slide on the side of the case, usually near the 9, will activate two hammers in the movement. These hammers strike two gongs curled within the case.First one hammer strikes a gong of lower tonality; it counts out the hours.
Then both hammers strike both gongs alternately to count out the quarter hours after that hour, and then the second hammer alone striking a gong of higher tonality counts out the minutes after that quarter hour. The repeating mechanism was developed by Daniel Quare. In 1687, he patented a mechanism that sounded the hours and the quarter hours. Early repeaters used bells. At the end of the 18th century, two bent-wire gongs became the more popular mechanism. In 1892, the first minute repeater wristwatch was produced by Omega, a model with a round-shaped case.