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Lot Essay
Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch in 1961 and its subsequent sale on 31 January 1962.
In 1955, Patek Philippe teamed up with Gilbert Albert, a young Geneva based jewelery designer, with the aim of producing a series of unusual wristwatches. The talented artist took his inspiration from his passion for modern art, notably works by Brancusi and Mondrian, and his daring and unconventional case designs are considered as cutting-edge today as they were 40 years ago.
The present watch is from the celebrated "Ricochet" collection of asymmetrical watches, described and illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, pp. 78, 163, 187 and 188. Many of these revolutionary designs never went above the prototype stage, most certainly due to the uncertain commercial success of the revolutionary design.
Interestingly the description of the pink gold example of reference 3412, page 187 op. cit., states "not implemented Prototype, not made in series", confirming that this model was obviously not meant to go into production either. Another noteworthy fact is its date, 1969, eight years after the official year of production of the present watch, again underlining that this particular model was originally not meant to be produced in larger quantities.
Its avant-garde design though must have appealed to collector's and consequently lead to the manufacture of an extremely small quantity of this model: according to our researches, only seven examples of reference 3412 in yellow gold and three in pink gold have appeared in public to date.
Recently overhauled by the workshops of Patek Philippe in Geneva, the present watch is furthermore in an excellent overall condition, still retaining the original gold buckle and one-piece leather bracelet.
In 1955, Patek Philippe teamed up with Gilbert Albert, a young Geneva based jewelery designer, with the aim of producing a series of unusual wristwatches. The talented artist took his inspiration from his passion for modern art, notably works by Brancusi and Mondrian, and his daring and unconventional case designs are considered as cutting-edge today as they were 40 years ago.
The present watch is from the celebrated "Ricochet" collection of asymmetrical watches, described and illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, pp. 78, 163, 187 and 188. Many of these revolutionary designs never went above the prototype stage, most certainly due to the uncertain commercial success of the revolutionary design.
Interestingly the description of the pink gold example of reference 3412, page 187 op. cit., states "not implemented Prototype, not made in series", confirming that this model was obviously not meant to go into production either. Another noteworthy fact is its date, 1969, eight years after the official year of production of the present watch, again underlining that this particular model was originally not meant to be produced in larger quantities.
Its avant-garde design though must have appealed to collector's and consequently lead to the manufacture of an extremely small quantity of this model: according to our researches, only seven examples of reference 3412 in yellow gold and three in pink gold have appeared in public to date.
Recently overhauled by the workshops of Patek Philippe in Geneva, the present watch is furthermore in an excellent overall condition, still retaining the original gold buckle and one-piece leather bracelet.