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Lot Essay
Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch with engraved initials and crown to both sides in 1886 and its subsequent sale on 8 November 1898.
The mechanism of this unusual dual time zone watch essentially has one time train with a set of motion work for both dials. The hands on the front dial are adjusted by the crown, while a wheel partially exposed underneath the bezel between 1 and 2 o'clock position independently sets the hands on the second dial. It is a true dual time zone watch as it has two independent time displays sharing the same mechanism.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest dual time zone watch produced by Patek Philippe to appear in public. In 1886 when this watch was made, the establishment of time zones was still in its very beginning. Only two years earlier, during the International Meridian Conference in Washington D.C. on 1st November 1884, it was agreed to establish international zones according to the same system. GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, was considered the "time zero" and the twenty-four standard meridians marked the centers of the zones. The International Dateline was placed along the 180-degree meridian in the Pacific Ocean. Around the world, clocks were reset to adapt to the new system of timekeeping.
It appears that the present watch was made for HH Muhammad Tawfiq Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, Sovereign of Nubia, of the Sudan, of Kordofan and of Darfur and sold to him for the amount of 550 Swiss Francs. It was under his father Ismail Pasha, Khedive or Viceroy of Egypt from 1863 to 1879, that the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869.
Tawfiq Pasha, born in 1852, replaced his father as Egyptian ruler in 1879. He had a generally Western point of view and devoted much attention to educational and legal reforms. After his death in 1892 his son Abbas II succeeded as Khedive of Egypt.
For a watch made for Muhammad Ali, Governor of Egypt and grandfather of Tawfiq, see lot 312 in this sale.
The mechanism of this unusual dual time zone watch essentially has one time train with a set of motion work for both dials. The hands on the front dial are adjusted by the crown, while a wheel partially exposed underneath the bezel between 1 and 2 o'clock position independently sets the hands on the second dial. It is a true dual time zone watch as it has two independent time displays sharing the same mechanism.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the earliest dual time zone watch produced by Patek Philippe to appear in public. In 1886 when this watch was made, the establishment of time zones was still in its very beginning. Only two years earlier, during the International Meridian Conference in Washington D.C. on 1st November 1884, it was agreed to establish international zones according to the same system. GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, was considered the "time zero" and the twenty-four standard meridians marked the centers of the zones. The International Dateline was placed along the 180-degree meridian in the Pacific Ocean. Around the world, clocks were reset to adapt to the new system of timekeeping.
It appears that the present watch was made for HH Muhammad Tawfiq Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, Sovereign of Nubia, of the Sudan, of Kordofan and of Darfur and sold to him for the amount of 550 Swiss Francs. It was under his father Ismail Pasha, Khedive or Viceroy of Egypt from 1863 to 1879, that the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869.
Tawfiq Pasha, born in 1852, replaced his father as Egyptian ruler in 1879. He had a generally Western point of view and devoted much attention to educational and legal reforms. After his death in 1892 his son Abbas II succeeded as Khedive of Egypt.
For a watch made for Muhammad Ali, Governor of Egypt and grandfather of Tawfiq, see lot 312 in this sale.