Important Collectors’ Watches, Pocket...

Geneva, Oct 14, 2007

LOT 199

Ref. 2499, Yellow Gold ?Third Series with Tachometer Dial? Patek Philippe, Genève, No. 868757, case No. 2621545, Ref. 2499, third series. Made in 1960, sold on December 18th, 1962. Exceptional and extremely rare 18K yellow gold wristwatch with round button chronograph, 30-minute register, perpetual calendar, moon phases, special tachometer dial and an 18K yellow gold Patek Philippe buckle. Accompanied by the Extract from the Archives.

CHF 500,000 - 600,000

EUR 300,000 - 365,000 / USD 415,000 - 500,000

Sold: CHF 794,500

C. Three-body, solid, polished and brushed, concave bezel, fluted lugs, domed crystal with ?cyclops? lens. D. Matte silver with applied yellow gold faceted baton indexes, outer minute track with concentric fifths of a second divisions, Arabic five minute/second numerals, outermost tachometer scale, subsidiary dials for the seconds and the 30-minute register, graduation for the date, apertures for the days of the week, the months and the moon phases. Yellow gold dauphine hands. M. Cal. 13''', stamped twice with the Seal of Geneva Quality Mark, rhodium-plated, "fausses côtes" decoration, 23 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic balance with 8 adjustments, self-compensating Breguet balance spring, spring-loaded micrometric regulator. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 38 mm. Thickness 14.5 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 2

Very good
Movement: 2

Very good
Dial: 2-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

This watch is another magnificent example of Reference 2499, third series, with a rare tachometer indication on the dial. This model, with its various series, is considered by collectors to be one of the iconic wristwatches of the post-war era. It is undoubtedly the most beloved, soughtafter, and expensive among perpetual calendar watches with chronograph. The clarity of the dial's iconography, the perfect proportions of the case, with its rounded shape, its thickness, its arched and fluted lugs, and its concave bezel, later inspired references 3970 and 3971, produced from 1986 to 2004. These, too, with their different versions, have also become icons of contemporary horology. The reference also inspired the current Ref. 5970, which began production in 2004.
Ref. 2499

Produced in 349 examples from 1951 to 1985, very few with tachometer, the majority in yellow gold, and a very few examples in pink gold.
- First series: from 1951 to circa 1960, square buttons, "feuille" hands, applied Arabic numerals, fluted lugs. It is extremely rare to find models in this series with dials with painted bâton indexes; no watches with black dials are known.
- Second series: round buttons, "feuille" hands, applied Arabic numerals. No watches with black dials are known in this series.
- Third series: round buttons, "dauphine" hands, applied indexes, Arabic numeral 12. No watches with black dials are known in this series. - Fourth series: from 1960 to 1978, round buttons, "dauphine" or "feuille" hands, applied "bâton" indexes. In this series, only four watches with black dials are known. Only one split-seconds chronograph with waterproof case is known bearing this reference, specially made by Patek Philippe for Gobbi, Milano, in 1982.
Ref. 2499/100: Fifth series: From 1978 to circa 1985, round buttons, sapphire crystal, "feuille" or "dauphine" hands, applied "baton" indexes. Very few examples were made with tacho-meter or telemeter scale and three pieces only with sapphire crystal back. In this series, models with the tachometer indication are extremely rare. Only one example is known with a black dial.
This reference was produced in yellow gold and in pink gold, and only two examples inplatinum, of which one was sold by Antiquorum in Geneva on April 9, 1989, "The Art of Patek Philippe", lot 34.

Similar watches are illustrated in "Patek Philippe Wristwatches", by Martin Huber and Alan Banbery, 1998, pp 230-231 and in "Collecting Patek Philippe Watches" by M. and O. Patrizzi, Guido Mondani Editore, Genova, 2000, p. 296.