Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Geneva, May 13, 2012

LOT 386

PATEK PHILIPPE ? POSSIBLY UNIQUE MOVEMENT & POWER RESERVE & SECONDS POSITIONING - SILVER LEVER CHRONOMETER NAVIGATION WATCH FOR GENEVA OBSERVATORY TRIAL Patek Philippe & Cie., Genève, "Montre de Torpilleur" No. 191833, case No. 625970, Ref. 738, the movement made in 1920 and encased in 1943, sold on December 30th, 1953. Exceptionally fine and possibly unique, large, silver, keyless, ?Extra? adjusted lever chronometer navigation watch with Guillaume balance, powerreserve indication at 9 and seconds at 3. Accompanied by the Extract from the Archives and wooden deck box.

CHF 9,000 - 13,000

USD 10,000 - 14,000 / EUR 7,500 - 11,000

Sold: CHF 47,500

C. Four-body, "bassine", polished. Hinged silver cuvette. D. Brushed silvered, radial champlevé Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds at 3 o?clock, 36-hour power-reserve indication at 9 o?clock. Blued steel spade hands. M. 42 mm. (19???), rhodium plated, fausses côtes decoration, pillar plate under the dial with oeil de perdrix fi nishing, 23 jewels, adjusted ?Extra?, very high quality straight line calibrated equidistant lever escapement, anibal-brass Guillaume compensation balance with poising wings on the balance arm, gold and platinum temperature and meantime adjustment screws, blued steel Breguet balance spring with inner and outer terminal curves, ruby banking pins in shape of small plates inserted into the bridge, punched twice with Seal of Geneva Quality marks, swan-neck micrometric regulator, wolf?s tooth winding, special mainspring ratchet wheel click preventing over winding and Maltese Cross stop work. Dial, case and movement signed, case punched with Swiss and German silver marks. Diam. 60 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 2

Very good
Movement: 2*

Very good

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

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

The present watch is a very fi ne example of a Patek Philippe navigation watch from a very small series, all destined for Observatory trials. This particular watch (No. 191833) would appear to be unique amongst this series. To date it is the only known example of Ref. 738 with the power-reserve indication at 9 o?clock and the subsidiary seconds at 3 o?clock instead of the usual 12 o?clock and 6 o?clock positions. To facilitate this dial confi guration, the wheel train of the movement itself has had to be re-positioned and therefore specially made so that the fourth wheel pinion is in the 3 o?clock position to carry the seconds hand. The going barrel is in the 9 o?clock position for the power-reserve indication. The movement has the unusual winding click and Maltese cross stopwork to prevent over winding found on very few Patek Philippe watches. When destined for Observatory Timing Contests, the movements of Patek Philippe watches, like those of other makers, were double engraved with the movement serial numbers. Interestingly, the present watch does not bear the usual inscription "Extra" on the bridge of the movement referring to the high fi nishing of all the parts of the movement, however, the Extract from the Archives confi rms that movement No. 191833 is indeed of ?Extra? quality. The case also bears a German import mark for silver indicating that it was intended for use by the German Navy. Very few navigation watches of this series were supplied by Patek Philippe, perhaps due to their high prices.