There’s no more collectible watch than a Patek. Patek Philippe’s 175th anniversary celebrations.
17 of the 20 most expensive timepieces ever sold at auction came from the Patek Philippe brand. The priciest of these was the Henry Graves SuperComplication gold pocket watch that went under the hammer for a staggering $11m in 1999. Given rises in the market since, you can only wonder how much it would be worth when it will be a part of Sotheby’s Important Watches sale in November this year.
The world’s most famous watch returns to market in November as the centrepiece of Sotheby’s Geneva November 2014 Watch Sale at the time of Patek Philippe’s 175th anniversary.
Made by Patek Philippe in 1933, this masterpiece of horology is the most famous watch in the world and the most complicated watch ever made completely by human hand. Its reappearance on the market, 15 years after its record sale, will coincide with Patek Philippe’s 175th anniversary celebrations and will be a fitting tribute to the genius of the Swiss manufacturer. The watch will be offered in Sotheby’s Geneva sale of Important Watches with an estimate in excess of CHF 15 million.
“The list of superlatives which can be attached to this icon of the 20th century is truly extraordinary. Indisputably the “Holy Grail” of watches, The Henry Graves Supercomplication combines the Renaissance ideal of the unity of beauty and craftsmanship with the apogee of science,” said Tim Bourne, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Watches, and Daryn Schnipper, Chairman of Sotheby’s Watch Division.
“Our offering of this horological work of art in 1999 was unquestionably the highlight of our professional careers and set a world record which has held until today. We are
extremely privileged to be offering it once again.”
In 1925, Patek Philippe was commissioned by Henry Graves, a prominent New York banker, to produce the most complicated watch in the world. The product of three years of research and five years’ effort by the most skilled technicians, this extraordinary timepiece is a gold openface minute repeating chronograph clockwatch with Westminster chimes. Among the features it incorporates are perpetual calendar, moon phases, sidereal time, power reserve, and indications for time of sunset and sunrise and the night sky of New York City. With a total of 24 horological complications, The Graves watch retained the title of the world’s most complicated watch for 56 years and even then was only surpassed by technicians working with the aid of computer-assisted machines.
