Patek Philippe Calatrava 5296G (5296G-010)

WORLDTEMPUS - 1st December 2011

Aurel Bacs, auctioneer and co-head of Christie´s watch department since 2003, slammed his gavel against the rostrum once more as he approached the last of the 427 lots of the auction held at Geneva's Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues. The "Important Watches" sale on November 14 was going to achieve an excess of 21 million euros - thanks in part to the contribution of a group of Patek Philippe wristwatches.
The Genevan brand has consistently gained both in value and relevance to a wide group of collectors, and currently shows no sign of decreasing this upward swing. The most important watch auctions of the last two decades organized by powerhouses like Christies, Sotheby's and Antiquorum all reflect the same relentless interest by avid collectors from around the world. The historic manufacture that gave the world horological masterpieces such as the Graves Super Complication and Caliber 89 had the good fortune of producing some of the most interesting mechanical wristwatches of the twentieth century, a legacy that continues to inspire today's new models. It therefore comes as no real surprise that three extremely rare wristwatches by the brand should change hands for an excess of one million euros.

Lot 252 
In the period that followed the end of World War II, Patek Philippe's collection was much different than the one presented during the first half of the twentieth century. Watches were now produced in series, and most of them had clearly identifiable serial numbers. As a consequence of this change, unique pieces and special orders were considered the exception. The production of complicated watches increased to dozens and even hundreds of pieces, although small series occasionally had the good fortune of seeing the light of day. And so it was with the present Reference 3449, of which only three examples are known to have been produced following the completion of the last pieces of References 2497 and 2438/1 and preceding the release of Reference 3448 by a year. This was a coincidence that allows it to be considered an experimental or even transitional series - justifying the price of 1,190,463 euros it recently reached at auction.

Lot 141
Released in 1943, Reference 1579 was mainly encased in yellow gold with only a handful of models in steel. The platinum case of the present example, of which no additional model is expected to be discovered, increases the known number of its kind to only three worldwide, all of them with consequent serial numbers. These aspects define the rarity of this particular Patek Philippe chronograph, along with the contribution of the relatively large 36 mm case and beautiful facetted lugs known as "spider lugs." However, there is another fact that justifies the price Reference 1579 achieved at auction: during the 40 years wristwatch chronograph production outfitted with Caliber 13´´´130 by Patek Philippe, no other reference has been housed in a platinum case. The reason why the brand dared to release a small series of platinum-encased chronographs with various colored dials right after the end of the World War II is unknown. Specialists tend to think that it was to impress the public with the brand's savoir-faire rather than special orders. This Reference 1579 was sold to a collector for 1,656,339 euros.

Lot 88
When it was introduced in 1962, Reference 3448 assumed the title of the first automatic wristwatch with perpetual calendar, of which 585 pieces were manufactured. Its Caliber 27-460 remains to this day one of the most sophisticated and fascinating automatic movements ever made, and would later evolve into Caliber 27-460 Q and 27-460 QB. This Reference 3448 reached the highest bid of the entire auction not only due to its intrinsic rarity, but also because of its extraordinarily original and untarnished condition - something very unusual for a gold wristwatch from 1968 considering that over time the polishing and cleaning of the case and lugs would induce a rounding of its edges. Until the day of its discovery in 2011, when it finally exited the safe of a private collector, it was accepted that Reference 3448 was mainly housed in yellow gold cases, with a few examples in white gold and only two in platinum. Discussions among connoisseurs regarding the existence of a very small series of only two Reference 3448s in rose gold still did not prepare collectors for the actual discovery of one them. The myth, seldom referred to as pure speculation, had suddenly become reality. Reference 3448 in rose gold was possibly made by special request for a South American client and represented the highlight of the auction by changing hands for 1,749,701 euros.