Important Watches, Collectors’ Wristw...

Hotel Noga Hilton, Nov 14, 2004

LOT 348

Patek, Philippe & Cie., Genève, No. 174087, case No. 174087, circa 1915. Extremely rare and very fine, 18K gold and enamel, ?EXTRA? fine keyless five-minute-repeating dress watch with ruby banking pins.

CHF 11,000 - 13,000

EUR 7,000 - 8,000 / USD 9,000 - 10,000

Sold: CHF 24,150

C. Four-body, ?bassine?, polished with green enamel initials on the back, gold hinged cuvette. D. White enamel, radial Arabic numerals, outer minute divisions with five-minute red Arabic markers, subsidiary sunk seconds. Blued steel ?spade? hands. M. 39 mm (18'''), maillechort, ?fausses côtes? decoration,31 jewels, straight line calibrated lever escapement, jeweled banking pins, cut-bimetallic compensation balance with Breguet balance spring, repeating on gongs through activating slidein the band.Signed on dial and case, dial signed by retailer.Diam. 46 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Notes

This is the only known complicated Patek, Philippe watch with ?EXTRA? adjustments and ruby banking pins ; these were employed in only the very best of the company?s watches. In a lever escapement the balance unlocks the pallet fork, which by means of the energy stored in the escape wheel, gives an impulse to the balance. After that the fork drops to one of two banking pins. This causes the fork to vibrate; an average watch makes one billion such drops in less than seven years. To minimize vibrations as well as wear, ruby pins were inserted in some of the best watches. In the case of Patek Philippe they are heavy ruby inserts. These are occasionally used in watches destined for observatory timing competitions. Until now, we have never seen them used in a complicated watch.