PATEK PHILIPPE. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND ATTRACTIVE 18K GOLD OPENFACE MINUTE REPEATING PERPETUAL CALENDAR KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH MOON PHASES
PATEK PHILIPPE. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND ATTRACTIVE 18K GOLD OPENFACE MINUTE REPEATING PERPETUAL CALENDAR KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH MOON PHASES
PATEK PHILIPPE. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND ATTRACTIVE 18K GOLD OPENFACE MINUTE REPEATING PERPETUAL CALENDAR KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH MOON PHASES
2 More
PATEK PHILIPPE. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND ATTRACTIVE 18K GOLD OPENFACE MINUTE REPEATING PERPETUAL CALENDAR KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH MOON PHASES
5 More
PATEK PHILIPPEMINUTE REPEATING ‘AMERICAN’ PERPETUAL CALENDAR REF. 844
PATEK PHILIPPE. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND ATTRACTIVE 18K GOLD OPENFACE MINUTE REPEATING PERPETUAL CALENDAR KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH MOON PHASES

SIGNED PATEK PHILIPPE, REF. 844, MOVEMENT NO. 197'912, CASE NO. 316'548, MOVEMENT MANUFACTURED IN 1924, COMPLETED IN 1963 AND ENCASED IN 1967

Details
PATEK PHILIPPE. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND ATTRACTIVE 18K GOLD OPENFACE MINUTE REPEATING PERPETUAL CALENDAR KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH MOON PHASES
SIGNED PATEK PHILIPPE, REF. 844, MOVEMENT NO. 197'912, CASE NO. 316'548, MOVEMENT MANUFACTURED IN 1924, COMPLETED IN 1963 AND ENCASED IN 1967
Movement: Manual
Dial: Silvered
Case: 51 mm. diam.
With: Extract from the Archives confirming manufacture of the movement in 1924, completed in 1963, encased in 1967 and its subsequent sale on 18 June 1981

Brought to you by

Remi Guillemin
Remi Guillemin Head of Watches, Europe and Americas

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

Sign in
View condition report

Lot Essay

The present timepiece combines all the aspects of the highest quality expected from a complicated Patek Philippe watch and features two complications for which the company is most admired - minute repeating and perpetual calendar. Reference 844 is among the most exclusive, and certainly one of the most beautiful of Patek Philippe’s 20th century pocket watches, only around 60 pieces were ever made and mostly by special request. Since the model first appeared in around 1964 until today, only around 22 examples have been identified in the market or in major publications. The wonderful clean, bold minimalist styling of reference 844 is immediately reminiscent of one of Patek Philippe’s greatest wristwatch references of the same period, the reference 3448. Indeed, the cases of both models were made by the same Geneva master casemaker, Antoine Gerlach and the dials by Stern Frères. Reference 844 is defined by its linear calendar, also known as the 'American' calendar because of the sequence of the month/day displays.

The present watch can be appreciated for the sharpness of the angles of the bezel, band and bow and the clearly visible hallmarks. In all, it is very close to the original finishing. Interestingly, the movement of this watch was produced by Patek Philippe in 1924 but only completed in the 1960s. The movements of reference 844 were sometimes from contemporary production and others, such as the present watch from historic stock held for decades in safe storage. The movement of this watch, no. 197’912, belongs to an important group of complicated movements manufactured in the 1920s but not finished and sold until much later. This was due to the economic crash after the Great Depression, they were never cased but remained in stock until Mr Philippe Stern decided to finish and case a small number of these historic movements. The group included two Grande Complicatons, movement no. 197’914 and no. 197’917. Another example of reference 844 with the immediately preceding movement and case numbers to the present watch, movement no. 197’911, case no. 316’547, was sold by Christie’s Geneva, 15 November 2004, lot 307.

Reference 844
Distinguished by its architectural, modernist case and dial designs reduced to a minimalist level, reference 844 is one of Patek Philippe's greatest post war designs for complicated pocket watches. Launched in the mid-1960s, the model is best known for its so-called 'American calendar', derived from the arrangement of the calendar indication, starting with month, date and day of the week as opposed to the European date, month and day of the week sequence. Also known as linear calendar or digital calendar display, it was introduced with references 699⁄2 and 699⁄5 in the mid-1950s and later evolved into the references 843 and 844. Of very similar style, only differing by size and minor case or dial details, references 843 and 844 were made in an exceedingly small series only, the vast majority in yellow gold, only one white gold example has appeared to date.

More from Rare Watches Including Watches for ELA

View All
View All