Exceptional Horological Sale Celebrat...

Hotel Noga Hilton, Geneva, Apr 24, 2004

LOT 81

Patek,Philippe & Cie.,Genève, No. 48225, made in 1885. Very fine and rare 18K gold, hunting-cased, double-train, independent dead seconds keyless watch. Accompanied by the Extract from the Archives.

CHF 25,000 - 35,000

EUR 15,800 - 22,000 / USD 19,500 - 27,000

Sold: CHF 29,900

C. Four-body, "bassine et filets", engine-turned, gold hinged cu-vette, activating pushbutton at 4 o?clock in the band.D. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions. Blued steel "spade" hands.M. 42.8 mm (19???), gilt brass, 27 jewels, straight line calibrated lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with gold screws, blued steel Breguet balance spring, a flirt mounted on the last pinion of the independent dead seconds train engaging escape wheel pinion allowing one-second jumps, Philippe?s patented winding system. Signed on the case.Diam. 50 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3 - 15
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3 - 01

Notes

In 1776, in Geneva, Moise Pouzait invented the independent dead seconds mechanism in which the movement has two trains, one conventional, and the second with a sweep-seconds hand which can be stopped without stopping the main train. Adrien Philippe?s independent dead seconds mechanism differs radically from the conventional one based on Pouzait?s design. Philippe moved the entire "independent" train over the center bridge, allowing more room for the going train and the balance, which is larger, resulting in better timekeeping. There are fewer than two dozen recorded independent dead seconds watches by Patek Philippe, including the very first ones made by Patek and Czapek. This watch incorporates Adrien Philippe?s two patents concerning tandem winding: the first, for a "free", or "slipping", mainspring, patented on June 16, 1863 in France, and the second, for winding two mainsprings with one crown, Swiss patent No. 1017 of May 23, 1889. A virtually identical movement, but much later (No 174021), is illustrated in "Patek Philippe, Genève", by Martin Huber and Alan Banbery, p.195.