Lot Essay
With Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch with enamel dial and raised gold hour markers in 1953 and its subsequent sale on 18 November 1953.
Reference 2526 is commonly known with an enamel dial with applied gold baton numerals. Very few examples exist with different numerals, such as diamond indexes, more commonly on white metal watches, or Breguet numerals, such as the present watch.
Research shows that only four other examples of reference 2526 were fitted with applied Breguet numerals, amongst them formerly one in Andy Warhol's watch collection, now the cherished trophy of an important private collector.
An interesting consideration regarding the sophistication of this enamel dial is based on the manner the gold Breguet numerals are applied. In fact, any applied hour marker is mounted on the dial by means of sticking pins, attached to the back of the numeral, through holes in the dial plate. Whereas the holes for a regular 2526 dial fitted with baton indexes are, obviously, are all aligned on radiances from the centre the Breguet numerals need completely differently positioned holes, doing justice to their varied shapes and pending if the Arabic number is composed of one or two digits. Since the holes for the numerals must be pierced before the dial is enamelled (otherwise the enamel coating would immediately crack), the raw plaque is already chosen to become a "Breguet" dial before the enamelling process is started.
Not only taking into consideration the incredibly smart look of this reference in enhanced by the Breguet numeral dial but also its substantial rarity and state of the art self-winding movement, one can comfortably attribute the present reference 2526 to the elite of time only wristwatches
For another example of a reference 2526 with Breguet numerals see Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, first edition pp. 165 & 166, second edition pp. 213 & 214.
Reference 2526
Reference 2526 and its successor 3428 are undisputedly amongst the most elegant and distinguished vintage watches ever made.
Reference 2526 was introduced into the market in 1952 and was Patek Philippe's first automatic watch ever made, starting with movement number 760'000 (delivered in July 1953 to Mr. J.B. Champion, one of Patek Philippe's faithful clients. This watch, fitted with a gold bracelet, is today the pride of a discerning collector). The model features 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 first 500 movements of calibre 12'''600, such as the present watch, were fitted with the earliest version of this legendary ébauche without ball bearing, rendering these watches particularly rare and collectable.
The majority of reference 2526 was cased in yellow gold, a small series in pink gold and an exceedingly limited number in white gold and platinum.
Reference 2526 is commonly known with an enamel dial with applied gold baton numerals. Very few examples exist with different numerals, such as diamond indexes, more commonly on white metal watches, or Breguet numerals, such as the present watch.
Research shows that only four other examples of reference 2526 were fitted with applied Breguet numerals, amongst them formerly one in Andy Warhol's watch collection, now the cherished trophy of an important private collector.
An interesting consideration regarding the sophistication of this enamel dial is based on the manner the gold Breguet numerals are applied. In fact, any applied hour marker is mounted on the dial by means of sticking pins, attached to the back of the numeral, through holes in the dial plate. Whereas the holes for a regular 2526 dial fitted with baton indexes are, obviously, are all aligned on radiances from the centre the Breguet numerals need completely differently positioned holes, doing justice to their varied shapes and pending if the Arabic number is composed of one or two digits. Since the holes for the numerals must be pierced before the dial is enamelled (otherwise the enamel coating would immediately crack), the raw plaque is already chosen to become a "Breguet" dial before the enamelling process is started.
Not only taking into consideration the incredibly smart look of this reference in enhanced by the Breguet numeral dial but also its substantial rarity and state of the art self-winding movement, one can comfortably attribute the present reference 2526 to the elite of time only wristwatches
For another example of a reference 2526 with Breguet numerals see Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, first edition pp. 165 & 166, second edition pp. 213 & 214.
Reference 2526
Reference 2526 and its successor 3428 are undisputedly amongst the most elegant and distinguished vintage watches ever made.
Reference 2526 was introduced into the market in 1952 and was Patek Philippe's first automatic watch ever made, starting with movement number 760'000 (delivered in July 1953 to Mr. J.B. Champion, one of Patek Philippe's faithful clients. This watch, fitted with a gold bracelet, is today the pride of a discerning collector). The model features 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 first 500 movements of calibre 12'''600, such as the present watch, were fitted with the earliest version of this legendary ébauche without ball bearing, rendering these watches particularly rare and collectable.
The majority of reference 2526 was cased in yellow gold, a small series in pink gold and an exceedingly limited number in white gold and platinum.