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Lot Essay
Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch with silvered dial and Breguet numerals in 1928 and its subsequent sale on 16 May 1930.
The ébauche for this unusual watch was commissioned by Patek Philippe and made by Victorin Piguet. The company Victorin Piguet of Le Sentier began making fine ébauches for complicated movements for prestigious firms like Patek Philippe during the 1920s. Though they never produced watches under their own name, they are associated with the highest quality craftsmanship and most unusual complications.
Patek Philippe produced single button chronograph wristwatches only between 1924 and the late 1930s. The majority were cased in the classic "Calatrava-style" reference 130 case. Earlier examples, possibly as few as a fifth of the total production, were also made with cushion-shaped cases. Many of these watches are actually only known through literature, and archival images.
The present watch is a particularly rare example, as it is fitted with an unusual "Officier" case with hinged cuvette and back combined with a highly fascinating two-tone silvered sector or aviator dial with pulsometer scale and horizontally placed registers. It can be assumed that based on its condition, the dial has been mounted shortly after the sale of the watch, possibly by a doctor's special order.
For an example of another single button chronograph wristwatch with "Officier" case, movement no. 198'049, see Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 258, pl. 398.
The ébauche for this unusual watch was commissioned by Patek Philippe and made by Victorin Piguet. The company Victorin Piguet of Le Sentier began making fine ébauches for complicated movements for prestigious firms like Patek Philippe during the 1920s. Though they never produced watches under their own name, they are associated with the highest quality craftsmanship and most unusual complications.
Patek Philippe produced single button chronograph wristwatches only between 1924 and the late 1930s. The majority were cased in the classic "Calatrava-style" reference 130 case. Earlier examples, possibly as few as a fifth of the total production, were also made with cushion-shaped cases. Many of these watches are actually only known through literature, and archival images.
The present watch is a particularly rare example, as it is fitted with an unusual "Officier" case with hinged cuvette and back combined with a highly fascinating two-tone silvered sector or aviator dial with pulsometer scale and horizontally placed registers. It can be assumed that based on its condition, the dial has been mounted shortly after the sale of the watch, possibly by a doctor's special order.
For an example of another single button chronograph wristwatch with "Officier" case, movement no. 198'049, see Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 258, pl. 398.