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Lot Essay
Please note that Christie’s has applied for an ‘Extract from the Archives’ from Patek Philippe Archives but the Extract has not yet been issued and may not be available by the date of the auction.
Elegant and highly attractive, the present timepiece features a second-series dial, characterized by a smaller 6 o'clock index. It is thought that a larger index could not be accommodated on the dial for technical reasons, most likely because of a change in the setting procedure. In earlier series, the hour markers were set with the help of pins, which frequently led to enamel dials being damaged during assembly. Eventually, Patek Philippe stopped using this method and switched to gluing the hour markers straight onto the dial. This method was later used for the majority of reference 2526 enamel dials. The watch is further complemented with a beautifully finished bracelet, elegantly adorned with the Calatrava cross on the clasp.
Reference 2526
Introduced in 1952, reference 2526 was Patek Philippe's first self-winding or automatic watch, debuting with movement number 760'000. At its core is the legendary calibre 12-600 AT, which was granted Swiss patent no. 289758 in 1953 for 'a self-winding mechanism for a wristwatch movement using the energy supplied by a rotary mass causing an eccentric part to transmit a swinging movement to an organ of the mechanism'.
The majority of reference 2526 was cased in yellow gold, with a smaller series in pink gold and an exceptionally limited number in white gold and platinum. Mainly fitted with enamel dials with applied gold baton numerals, the white gold and platinum examples were also available with silvered metal dials with diamond indexes.
Elegant and highly attractive, the present timepiece features a second-series dial, characterized by a smaller 6 o'clock index. It is thought that a larger index could not be accommodated on the dial for technical reasons, most likely because of a change in the setting procedure. In earlier series, the hour markers were set with the help of pins, which frequently led to enamel dials being damaged during assembly. Eventually, Patek Philippe stopped using this method and switched to gluing the hour markers straight onto the dial. This method was later used for the majority of reference 2526 enamel dials. The watch is further complemented with a beautifully finished bracelet, elegantly adorned with the Calatrava cross on the clasp.
Reference 2526
Introduced in 1952, reference 2526 was Patek Philippe's first self-winding or automatic watch, debuting with movement number 760'000. At its core is the legendary calibre 12-600 AT, which was granted Swiss patent no. 289758 in 1953 for 'a self-winding mechanism for a wristwatch movement using the energy supplied by a rotary mass causing an eccentric part to transmit a swinging movement to an organ of the mechanism'.
The majority of reference 2526 was cased in yellow gold, with a smaller series in pink gold and an exceptionally limited number in white gold and platinum. Mainly fitted with enamel dials with applied gold baton numerals, the white gold and platinum examples were also available with silvered metal dials with diamond indexes.