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Lot Essay
US$50,000-70,000
With Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming dates of manufacture and sale.
Reference 2597 with calibre 12'''400 HS for heures sautantes or jumping hours was launched in 1958. This highly ingenious system was patented by Patek Philippe in 1959, Swiss Patent 340191 for a "Time Zone Watch".
The model was made in two versions, the first, such as the present watch, features an independently adjustable hour hand, whereas the second includes an additional hour hand.
With the arrival of transatlantic flights with jet aircrafts in the 1950s, the need for a watch showing both local and home time increased. Various attempts were made but none could compete with Louis Cottier's elegant solution developed for Patek Philippe. The main problem was the setting of the hours independently of the minutes, allowing travellers the easy and quick adjustment of the hour indication to their local time zone without losing the correct time in minutes.
Cottier's design enabled the moving of the cannon pinion and consequently the hour hand in 12 steps around a 12-pointed star-wheel driven by the motion work. Via the two correction buttons in the band, the position of the hand can be changed independently in either direction by exactly one hour.
This patented wheel train is today the basis of Patek Philippe's Calatrava Travel Time.
Examples of both versions of reference 2597 are illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 238 & 239.
With Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming dates of manufacture and sale.
Reference 2597 with calibre 12'''400 HS for heures sautantes or jumping hours was launched in 1958. This highly ingenious system was patented by Patek Philippe in 1959, Swiss Patent 340191 for a "Time Zone Watch".
The model was made in two versions, the first, such as the present watch, features an independently adjustable hour hand, whereas the second includes an additional hour hand.
With the arrival of transatlantic flights with jet aircrafts in the 1950s, the need for a watch showing both local and home time increased. Various attempts were made but none could compete with Louis Cottier's elegant solution developed for Patek Philippe. The main problem was the setting of the hours independently of the minutes, allowing travellers the easy and quick adjustment of the hour indication to their local time zone without losing the correct time in minutes.
Cottier's design enabled the moving of the cannon pinion and consequently the hour hand in 12 steps around a 12-pointed star-wheel driven by the motion work. Via the two correction buttons in the band, the position of the hand can be changed independently in either direction by exactly one hour.
This patented wheel train is today the basis of Patek Philippe's Calatrava Travel Time.
Examples of both versions of reference 2597 are illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 238 & 239.