Important Collectors Wristwatches, P...
New York, Dec 05, 2007
LOT 363
Pink Gold Ref. 5350 ? Advanced Research Patek Philippe, Genève, No. 3686189, case No. 4375221, Ref. 5350 R. Made in a special edition of 300 pieces in 2006. Sold on May 2, 2007. Very fine and extremely rare, innovative, astronomic, center seconds, self-winding, 18K pink gold wristwatch with annual calendar, moon phases, power reserve indicator and an 18K pink gold Patek Philippe deployable clasp. Accompanied by the original wooden box and Certificate of Origin.
USD 50,000 - 70,000
EUR 35,000 - 50,000
Sold: USD 82,600
C. Three-body, solid, polished, rounded bezel, concave lugs, screwed-down transparent case back with special etching and integrated magnifying loupe, sapphire crystals. D. Satiné silver with applied pink gold Arabic numerals and baton indexes, outer minute track and luminous dots, subsidiary guilloche dials for the days of the week and the months, apertures for the moon phases and the date at 6, up-and-down indication at 12. Luminous pink gold feuille hands. M. Cal. 324/267 with special milled bridges, stamped with the Seal of Geneva quality mark, rhodium-plated, fausses côtes decoration, 36 jewels, straight-line lever escapement with silicon escape wheel, Gyromax balance adjusted to heat, cold, isochronism and 5 positions, shock absorber, self-compensating free-sprung flat ?Silinvar Spiromax? balance spring, central rotor with zirconium ball bearings. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 39 mm. Thickness 11 mm. Property of Various Owners
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Grade: |
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Case: 1 |
As new |
Movement: 1 |
As new |
Dial: 1-01 |
As new HANDS Original |
Notes
The technology used to create this new type of balance spring resulted in 3 patents being granted to Patek Philippe. The SpiromaxR balance spring is made from SilinvarT, a new compound derived from monocrystaline silicon. Patek's engineers devised a new terminal curve design for the balance spring taking full advantage of the properties of SilinvarT. This meant shifting the mass of the spring for perfect symmetry as it expands and contracts over its entire spectrum of movement. This new balance spring has far improved isochronism and eliminates the need for lubrication of yet another critical part of the balance assembly. To do justice to these technical innovations, the movement has a specially shaped balance cock that reveals a large portion of the SpiromaxR spring, and the going train bridge is milled so that the blue-violet sheen of the nearly black silicon escape wheel is more readily visible. Additionally, the sapphire-crystal back has an integrated loupe and bears the inscription "Patek Philippe Advanced Research."
The solid 21K gold winding rotor features a zirconium ball bearing. Like the silicon escape wheel, the balls run dry and never need to be lubricated.
Ref. 5350R is produced in a limited edition of 300 watches. To the best of our knowledge this is the first example of this reference ever to appear at auction.