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Lot Essay
US$320,000-440,000
With Patek Philippe Certificate of Origin dated November 2004, additional case back, key, sales tag, instruction manual, product literature, leather portfolio, fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
Consigned by an important private collector, the present reference 5079 is part of a very rare limited series of only 5 pieces and is furthermore fresh to the market. According to our research, the present lot is only the forth known example to have come up for auction to date.
In 2004, Patek Philippe manufactured a very special series of 10 limited edition wristwatches to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their relationship with George Pragnell ltd, one of the largest retailers of luxury watches in the United Kingdom based outside of London in Stratford upon Avon.
Reference 5079 incorporates a "Cathedral" repeating mechanism, consisting of a high-tone and a low-tone gong. When the repeating is activated, first the number of hours is stroke by means of one of the two hammers on the low-tone gong, followed by the quarter hours with double strikes on both the low-tone and the high-tone gong, and finally the number of minutes which have elapsed since the last quarter-hour with one hammer on the high-tone gong.
The length of the gong in a standard repeating mechanism corresponds to almost precisely one turn in the movement whereas those of the "Cathedral" mechanism exceed the case circumference by at least one and a half, even two turns. Consequently, a much richer and fuller timbre is achieved, resembling the chime of the bells of a cathedral.
And last but not least as any of its minute repeating peers, the present watch had to pass a final test before being handed over to its future owner. Since Patek Philippe launched the production of these cherished timepieces in 1989, not a single one left the workshop before Philippe Stern, the company's president until 2009, now honorable president, deemed its chiming of the hour worthy of the firm's high standards. In the tranquillity of his office, he listened to the sounds of each watch to assure the inimitable richness of timbre that, as the Calatrava cross, is one of the trademarks of Patek Philippe's minute repeating wristwatches.
With Patek Philippe Certificate of Origin dated November 2004, additional case back, key, sales tag, instruction manual, product literature, leather portfolio, fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
Consigned by an important private collector, the present reference 5079 is part of a very rare limited series of only 5 pieces and is furthermore fresh to the market. According to our research, the present lot is only the forth known example to have come up for auction to date.
In 2004, Patek Philippe manufactured a very special series of 10 limited edition wristwatches to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their relationship with George Pragnell ltd, one of the largest retailers of luxury watches in the United Kingdom based outside of London in Stratford upon Avon.
Reference 5079 incorporates a "Cathedral" repeating mechanism, consisting of a high-tone and a low-tone gong. When the repeating is activated, first the number of hours is stroke by means of one of the two hammers on the low-tone gong, followed by the quarter hours with double strikes on both the low-tone and the high-tone gong, and finally the number of minutes which have elapsed since the last quarter-hour with one hammer on the high-tone gong.
The length of the gong in a standard repeating mechanism corresponds to almost precisely one turn in the movement whereas those of the "Cathedral" mechanism exceed the case circumference by at least one and a half, even two turns. Consequently, a much richer and fuller timbre is achieved, resembling the chime of the bells of a cathedral.
And last but not least as any of its minute repeating peers, the present watch had to pass a final test before being handed over to its future owner. Since Patek Philippe launched the production of these cherished timepieces in 1989, not a single one left the workshop before Philippe Stern, the company's president until 2009, now honorable president, deemed its chiming of the hour worthy of the firm's high standards. In the tranquillity of his office, he listened to the sounds of each watch to assure the inimitable richness of timbre that, as the Calatrava cross, is one of the trademarks of Patek Philippe's minute repeating wristwatches.