Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
Geneva, May 13, 2012
LOT 100
PATEK PHILIPPE - MAGNIFICENT & HISTORIC UNIQUE TOURBILLON WATCH ? ONE OF THE WORLD?S MOST ACCURATE MECHANICAL PRECISION WATCHES FROM THE 20TH CENTURY & MULTIPLE OBSERVATORY PRIZE WINNER, NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY CRAFTSMANSHIP TEST RECORD HOLDER OF 1954 WITH REMARKABLE COMPLETE DAILY TESTING RECORDS BETWEEN 1934 AND 1954. Patek Philippe, Genève, movement No. 198423, case No. 2823722, Ref. 953. The movement constructed between 1930 and 1934, the tourbillon made by celebrated master-watchmaker Hector Golay, the perpetual calendar mechanism and case constructed between 1989 and 1990, sold on September 12th, 1991. Exceptional, magnificent and historic, large, 18K yellow gold, keyless, ultra high-precision lever chronometer deck watch with one-minute tourbillon, Guillaume balance, special balance bridge, perpetual calendar, 24-hour indication and moon phases, the National Physical Laboratory?s Craftsmanship Test precision record holding watch, achieved in 1954 with 0.07 seconds daily variation, the holder of four Kew ?A? Certificates and three first prizes in Category A achieved between 1938 and 1950 with scores of 94.3, 94.5, 95.9 and 96.5 out of a possible 100, also entered for multiple trials at the Observatoire de Genève, regulated by François Modoux, André Zibach and Henri Wehrli achieving high scores of 807 and 834 respectively. Accompanied by a Patek Philippe box, two Certificates of Origin, setting pin, complete annual and daily rating documents for the period June 16th 1934 to August 28th 1956, National Physical Laboratory Certificate of Examination, original NPL packing note, three Observatoire de Genève rating certificates, circa 1955 and another 2012.
CHF 300,000 - 500,000
USD 325,000 - 550,000 / EUR 250,000 - 415,000
Sold: CHF 362,500
C. Three-body, bassine, massive, polished, calendar and moon phase correctors on the band, sapphire crystal. Gold rimmed cuvette glazed with a sapphire crystal for viewing the movement. D. 14K gold overlaid with simili-enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary dials for the date concentric with seconds, days of the week concentric with 24-hour indication, months concentric with 4-year cycle, aperture for the moon phases. Blued steel hour and minute, 24-hour, leap year and date hands, yellow gold seconds, days of the week and months hands. M. 22??? (50 mm), rhodium plated, stamped twice with the seal of Geneva quality mark, fausses cotes and oeil-de-perdrix decoration, 20 jewels, the center wheel jewel of blue sapphire, steel one-minute tourbillon carriage by Hector Golay with three-polished equidistant arms, lateral lever escapement, Guillaume balance with temperature and meantime adjustment screws, adjusted to heat, cold, isochronisms and fi ve positions, blued steel Balance spring with Philips terminal curve, index regulator on the carriage, special polished steel double-ended balance bridge secured by 3 screws, the upper balance pivot jewel in a gold chaton held by 3 screws. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 63 mm. Thickness 20 Property of a Japanese Collector
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: |
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Case: 1 |
As new |
Movement: 1* |
As new Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 2-01 |
Very good HANDS Original |
Notes
The movement of No. 198423 was made by Patek Philippe between the years 1930 and 1934 using a steel tourbillon cage made by Hector Golay and fi tted with a Guillaume balance to reduce timekeeping errors caused by temperature fl uctuation (middle temperature error). The construction of the movement incorporates an unusual straight-line balance bridge not so far seen in any other known Patek Philippe tourbillon. Most other Patek Philippe tourbillons have an asymmetrical bridge with two arms on one side and a single arm on the other, the purpose of this more substantial bridge is likely to be to provide greater stability for the carriage in a watch that was from its conception always intended to be rigorously tested. Another rare feature is the blue sapphire jewel of the center wheel used instead of the usual ruby red jewels, whilst this blue jewel has no technical advantage it is a feature known in less than fi ve Patek Philippe watches to date and adds to the special nature of the watch
The Observatory Trial History of Patek Philippe No. 198423
A remarkably detailed archive of original documentation recording the rating of movement No.198423 has survived with the watch and the hand-written daily rating records show the timekeeping variations for almost every day over a twenty-two year period from the 16th June 1934 until 28th August 1956. Upon its completion in 1934, the watch movement was sent to the Geneva Observatory for initial trial and then in November 1934 to the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, England, where it appears to have remained under constant observation throughout the 1930s. It was during this period, in March 1938 that it was sent to Kew Observatory and achieved the fi rst of four Kew class ?A? ratings, the second was in October that same year and a third was gained in April 1939. In July 1940 (perhaps due to the uncertainties of World War II) the watch was returned to Geneva Observatory where testing was resumed and continued for the remainder of the 1940s. By early1950 watch No. 198423 was back at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington and shortly after, in February 1950, it gained its fourth Kew class ?A? rating. The four Kew ?A? ratings were achieved with 94.3, 94.5, 95.9 and 96.5 out of a possible 100 points respectively.
The Craftsmanship Test Precision Record of 1954
Above all, perhaps what sets watch No. 198423 apart from other highly rated watches is its unprecedented success during the National Physical Laboratory?s ?Craftsmanship Test? which ran from 1951 to 1978 and was the most demanding of all watchmaking trials. Only eleven other watches ever passed this test and Patek Philippe movement No. 198423 was the only watch ever to achieve grade ?1a? for 5 of the 6 categories: . Consistency of rate ? 1a . Mean rate per period at 20 degrees C ? 1b . Positional adjustment ? 1a . Temperature compensation ? 1a . Drift of rate ? 1a . Uniformity of rate during the day ? 1a
At the end of this test, on 10th August 1954, this watch set the Craftsmanship Test precision record with a variation of overall rate during a selected 24-hour interval of 0.07 seconds.
Later in the 1950s, the watch was sent back to Geneva and submitted for trial. Circa 1955 it was submitted on at least three occasions and achieved 807 points (regulated by Modoux), 822 points (Modoux) and 834 points (Zibach). It was again submitted in 1957 when it gained 52.25 points out of a possible 60 in Category A.