Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Hong Kong,the Ritz Carlton Hotel,harbour Room, 3rd Floor, Jun 02, 2007

LOT 98

Ref. 1526, Yellow Gold ?Diamond Dial with Luminous Hands? Patek Philippe & Cie, Genève, No. 962250, case No. 653847, Ref. 1526, second series. Made in 1948, sold on october 15, 1948. Very fine and very rare, astronomic, 18K yellow gold gentleman's wristwatch with perpetual calendar, moon phases, diamond-set indexes, with an 18K yellow gold Patek Philippe buckle. Accompanied by the Extract from the Archives.

HKD 600,000 - 800,000

USD 80,000 - 105,000 / EUR 60,000 - 80,000

Sold: HKD 684,400

C. Three-body, solid, polished, concave bezel. D. Matte silver with applied round diamond indexes, subsidiary seconds dial, outer concentric graduation for the days of the month, apertures for the days of the week, the months and the moon phases. Luminous yellow gold ?dauphine? hands. M. Cal. 12'''-120 QP, rhodium-plated, ?fausses-côtes? decoration, 18 jewels, straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance-spring, swan-neck micrometer regulator. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 34 mm. Thickness 11 mm. Property of an American Collector


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3-18

Good

Spotted

Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Dial: 3-20-32-03

Good

Period original

Slightly restored

HANDS Period

Notes

At the customer?s request, the indexes were replaced with diamonds and the ?feuille? hands replaced with luminous ?dauphine? hands.

Ref. 1526 Produced in 210 examples from 1941 to 1952, with the Caliber 12'''-120 QP, the majority in yellow gold, rarely in pink gold, with only one example known to date in stainless steel.

- First series with indirect center-seconds produced in very few examples. One of these watches was sold by Antiquorum Geneva in the thematic auction ?The Art of Patek Philippe?, April 9, 1989, lot 203.

- Second series with concentric subsidiary dials for the seconds and the days of the month. The dials for the second series of this reference are known to date with 3 different designs: - the seconds division scale on the outside of the subsidiary date dial are quite rare - the seconds division on the inside of the subsidiary dial - the seconds division only on the bottom portion of the subsidiary dial, below the moon phase aperture. The applied gold upright Arabic numbers are of two kinds: - the larger type, more common - the smaller type, much rarer. Very few examples are known with diamond indexes. A similar watch is published in Patek Philippe Wristwatches, by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, 1998 Edition, pp. 282-283.