REF. 1526, MOVEMENT NO. 967’653, CASE NO. 668’367, MANUFACTURED IN 1951

Reference 1526 is the world's first perpetual calendar wristwatch made in series, its design is regarded as a masterpiece of purism and elegance. Launched in 1941, only 210 examples were made in total. Specimens cased in pink gold such as the present watch represented only a small proportion of the total production and are now among the most desirable of Patek Philippe’s great classic complicated references.

When this beautiful 1526 first appeared at auction in 2012 it was entirely fresh to the market, since then it’s owner has carefully preserved it. Now it is our great pleasure to offer this charming and important watch for the Christie’s 40th Anniversary in Asia auction, providing today’s collectors with the opportunity to acquire this superb and honest, highly attractive vintage rarity.

Over the last almost 75 years, the dial has only been gently refreshed and is in very appealing condition, the case with only a few signs of wear, with clear hallmarks near the crown and underneath the lug. The lugs still retaining good proportions, the later Patek Philippe winding crown was likely replaced during a service in the past.

The perpetual calendar is one of the most useful watchmaking inventions of all time, credited to the Englishman Thomas Mudge who made a perpetual calendar watch in 1762, the mechanism not only self-adjusts for the number of days in the month but also calculates the correct adjustment for the leap-years. Patek Philippe was unsurprisingly very early in using the perpetual calendar in wristwatches with the reference 1526 being the first serially produced time-only with perpetual calendar wristwatch by any manufacturer.