Important Collectors’ Wristwatches Po...

New York, Mar 15, 2006

LOT 30

?Pink 5004? Patek Philippe, Genève, No. 879503, case No. 2963340, Ref. 5004, first generation. Made circa 2000. Extremely fine, rare and important, astronomic, water-resistant, 18K pink gold gentleman's wristwatch with coaxial round button split-seconds chronograph, registers, perpetual calendar, moon phases and an 18K pink gold Patek Philippe buckle. Accompanied by an Extract from the Archives, setting pin and an additional 18K pink gold case back and fitted box.

USD 120,000 - 180,000

EUR 100,000 - 150,000

Sold: USD 169,150

C. Three-body, solid, polished, concave bezel, fluted lugs, coaxial push button in the crown for the split-seconds function, transparent case back to view the movement, sapphire crystals. D. Matte silver with applied large pink gold Arabic numerals, subsidiary dials for the 30-minute register and leap year at 3, the seconds and the 24 hours at 9, graduation for the days of the month at 6, apertures for the days of the week, the months and the moon phases. Pink gold "feuille" hands. M. Cal. CHR 2-70/150, stamped with the Geneva Quality Hallmark, rhodium-plated, "fausses côtes" decoration, 28 jewels, straight line lever escapement, Glucydur Gyromax balance, shock-absorber, self-compensating free-sprung Breguet balance-spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 36 mm. Thickness: 15 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 1

As new

Movement: 1

As new

Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

Ref.5004
First produced in 1995, this highly complicated, manually wound wristwatch combines a split-seconds chronograph with the functions of the perpetual calendar and moon phase. The movement consists of a total of 404 parts. What is a splitseconds chronograph? A split-seconds chronograph or "rattrapante" is a type of chronograph watch with 2 coaxial superimposed centerseconds hands that are controlled by 2 push buttons. One push button controls the split-seconds hand to stop or join the chronograph hand. The other push-button controls both hands and the start / stop functions of the chronograph, while a third button will reset everything to zero. The chronograph hand and the split-seconds hand are used for timing several events that start simultaneously, but are of different durations. To operate the split-seconds chronograph, both hands are started and remain superimposed. Then at the end of the first duration, the split-seconds hand can be stopped, while the chronograph hand continues to move. The duration of the first event can be read. After recording, the split-seconds hand can be released to instantly move and join the chronograph hand, synchronizing with it and thus being ready for another recording. At the end of each event the hands then can be stopped and returned to zero. The splitseconds chronograph, in its present form, was introduced in 1880. Split-seconds chronograph wristwatches came on the market circa 1922 by Patek Philippe the first known wristwatch of this kind was Patek Philippe No. 124824, case no. 235326, which was sold by Antiquorum as lot 448 on November 14, 1999 for US $1,918,387, which was at the time the highest price ever realized for a wristwatch at auction. This timepiece appeared 5 years prior to the official release of the split-seconds chronograph, making Patek Philippe the first manufacture to create this complication in a wristwatch. As they require a highly complicated and technical mechanism, these watches are desirable, very collectible and extremely difficult to produce, accounting for their rarity.