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Lot Essay
The 2499
When watch collectors think of Patek Philippe, they generally think of the round perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch. This combination of complications has grown to define Patek Philippe as a brand, and the watches under this umbrella are at the heart of the horological legend. These timepieces have become icons of watch-investing and are now widely considered to be wearable works of art — the ‘holy grail’ for any collector of wristwatches.
Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest-ever vintage watch models, the 2499 has exerted a strong influence on the designs of many of the most renowned watchmakers. Over a period of 35 years, the 2499 was made in four separate series in a total production of only 349 pieces, the majority cased in yellow gold. A 2499 is considered the ultimate statement watch today, instantly recognizable and coveted by collectors of modern and vintage alike.
In order to fully understand the gravity of this wristwatch, it is necessary to examine its role and importance in the history of Patek Philippe. Reference 2499 is a perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moonphases. This set of complications is the "signature watch" by Patek Philippe. Many other sets of complications have starred in a Patek Philippe model at some point in time, but perpetual chronograph are the only line of watches that not only has always been present in Patek's catalogue since its first appearance on the market in 1941, but which kept a very recognizable style. In a way, one could say these models are the true custodians of Patek Philippe DNA and identity.
As mentioned, this line of wristwatches saw the light of day in 1941, with the presentation of reference 1518, the first serially produced perpetual chronograph by any brand. Its three subcounters dial is such an achievement of design that it will be kept virtually unchanged through all the different incarnations of the perpetual chronograph. The heir to the 1518 is reference 2499, followed by 3970 in 1989. From 2004 to 2010 the torch was passed on to reference 5970, and the youngest heir is 5270, in production today since its introduction in 2011.
Reference 2499 is divided into four different series, with slightly different case and dial details:
- The first series features square pushers and a traditional tachometer dial layout with outer railway fifth of a second divisions
- The second series keeps the same dial layout of the first series, but utilizes round pushers
- The third series has a cleaner dial layout, without tachometer scale, and round pushers
- The fourth series, also known as reference 2499/100, is the same as the third series but the presently offered example is not only historically important as one of the first 2499/100s made with case by Atelier Reunis (please see the following essay), it is also one the best preserved fourth series in existence. The case is crisp with the clean unpolished lines of the lugs boldly protruding from the case. The dial is original and untouched showing only the slight signs of aging expected for a 36 year old. The movement is also in beautiful original condition. This watch was originally sold by a Patek Philippe authorized retailer in New York City in 1982 and has remained unknown to this day. As a fresh to market trophy, this watch is a superlative example of the reference and will be a prize example for the discerning collector.
Other examples of reference 2499 are illustrated and described in Patek Philippe Museum - Patek Philippe Watches, Volume II, pp. 306-307.
THE VERY FIRST PATEK PHILIPPE WRISTWATCH FINISHED AND CASED IN THE HOUSE
Philip Poniz
To appreciate the importance of this watch we must understand the deep desire of Patek Philippe to consolidate all aspects of its production under one roof, the desire that goes to the very core of Patek Philippe’s ideology and the philosophy of their production. In the beginning, the company relied on different subcontractors supplying rough movements, cases, dials, etc.
As soon as Adrien Philippe joined the company he began making it more independent. In 1850, he succeeded with in-house production of the movements. He built machinery capable of producing rough watch movements (ebauches)¹ which used to be supplied by Louis Audemars, D.H. Piguet, Piguet Freres, and others. The system worked, but not to the complete satisfaction.
It took another hundred years until the Sterns, the new owners, decided to pick up Philippe’s philosophy². Over the years the family invested almost one billion francs to build a facility where they could consolidate all the aspects of the production under one roof. It took a few decades for them to succeed. Christie’s is proud to present the very first fruit of this success - a gold, complicated wristwatch, Reference 2499/100, with the Movement No 869435 and the Case No. 2792095.
The watch comes from the legendary two series of the most complicated wristwatches the company, at the time, produced; Ref. 1518 and its successor Ref. 2499. Both feature a perpetual calendar, a chronograph with an option of start/pause/go or start/stop/return-to-zero, and minute registers. Most of them were equipped with a tachometer and some with pulsometer scales. The company was producing approximately fourteen of these watches per year.
Ref. 2499 held a special place in the Patek Philippe production. It was introduced in 1950 to join the celebration of the second half of the century, a time full of hope for brighter years. All the important Swiss watch companies took part in the celebration. Rolex, for instance, had a large celebration on a yacht sailing the lake of Geneva. To make the trip more interesting, they set, but not wound, a few of their waterproof and self-winding watches, put them in a cage attached to the boat and dropped them into water and towed them all day long while the festivities lasted. Then, at the end of the day, the watches were brought up aboard; all ran and kept good time.
Patek Philippe celebrated the festivities with the launching of Ref. 2499. Eventually, it became the most legendary series of their watches. At the time of its creation, this series was one of the most complicated watches Patek Philippe had ever produced. Generally, Ref. 2499 is divided into four sub-series. This is a simplification, but for our story it is not important.
What is important is the fact that the Sterns wanted to produce their most complicated watches with all the components made by Patek Philippe itself. They started the journey with the Ref. 2499. The watch we present here is the first one produced on that journey.
The company knew that it could produce its own movements. As we saw, this was proven by Philippe already in 1850. The Sterns also knew how to make watch dials. After all, they owned one of the most prestigious watch dial companies in Switzerland. But they had little, if any, experience with manufacturing watch cases.
For instance, the entire Reference 1518, the most important complicated watch series at the time, was cased by Emile Vichet, an excellent Geneva casemaker, whose claim to fame came from his ability of making cases even for ultra-thin movements, including casing them in coins.
With the advent of Reference 2499, Emile Vichet continued casing this series too, but only for about the first two years. After that, Patek Philippe subcontracted the famous Wenger, SA, run by Édouard Wenger, who kept casing Ref. 2499 until 1982 including 2499/100.
What Wenger probably did not know, was that the owners of Patek Philippe were planning to have their watches made in their own cases, entirely by Patek Philippe itself.
To that end, in the 1970’s, Philippe Stern bought Ateliers Réunis S.A., a watch case company in Geneva, at Rue des Vieux-Grenadiers 7. Please note that the address is the same as where the Patek Philippe Museum stands today, a museum housing the most important watch collection in the world.
Ateliers Réunis was a case and watch bracelet company owned by the Sterns. In the beginning, the Sterns were not involved in the running of the company, but in 2005 Philippe Stern became the president taking over Monsieur Perret Marcel’s duties. It was there, that Philippe’s son, Thierry Stern, began studying the manufacturing side of the business, where he also became involved with the methods of production for the first time. In 2009 he took over his father’s duties and became the president of Ateliers Réunis. A few years later he consolidated the company with the Patek Philippe empire as a watch case manufacturing department.
In order to continue with our watch we must point out certain characteristics of Ref. 2499.
UNDERSTANDING REF. 2499
As I mentioned before, the division of Ref. 2499, as it stands today, is far from perfect. To go over the differences is beyond the scope of this essay but certain elements must be pointed out to understand the importance of this watch.
The serial numbers are not chronological. For instance, an early No. 869250 corresponds to 2499/100 from 1982, but a higher number 869441 corresponds to 1971 from, the so called, Series 3.
-The series is often mixed with another series, for instance, No. 863,792 belongs to Ref. 2499 but the following number, 863,793, belongs to an earlier Ref, 1518.
-The sub-series are also mixed; a watch from Series 3 can be before series 2.
-The reason for all this was that during the production, any of the 13’’’-130 QP movements could fit any of the cases. It was not practical to always follow the numerical order.
-The division of Ref. 2499 for Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, was not done by Patek Philippe but by a certain horologist in the late 1980’s, who wanted to aid himself with the descriptions of these watches. Although, at the time, helpful, it missed the divisions made by Patek Philippe itself.
-The Ref. 2499/100 is unique because it was marked so, by the company itself.
The decision to start this new series was made by Patek Philippe in 1970s.
The casing was done by Wenger, for whom it was a natural continuation of casing Ref. 2499, which he started about a quarter of a century before. He continued making cases for 2499/100 until 1982, his last case No. 2,779,193 having the movement No. 869432.
We do not know exactly when Sterns decided to make their own 2499/100. It might have been earlier than it is believed. For their first watch (this one) they took a movement, No. 869,435 from circa 1970. It was from a series of movements designated for Wenger, who used them from the early 1960s to at least 1977. It was a complete series of numbers starting from No. 869,329 to No. 869,491 or maybe a few numbers more.
The serial number of this watch, 869,435, is from a series of Wenger 2499’s, not from the series of Patek Philippe 2499/100s, as we will see. The consecutive ten numbers 869,436 - 869,446 Wenger cased in 1971 and 1972.
In 1982, the Sterns were ready to make their own cases for the Ref. 2499!
Although 1982 saw the last of Ref. 2499 cased by Wenger it was not the end of 2499 for the Sterns. For them it was actually the beginning of Ref. 2499 cased by Patek Philippe itself, the most complicated series cased in the house!
There is a general misconception regarding the 2499/100. It has been thought that 2499/100 is just the finish of the Ref. 2499. But no, it was actually the beginning of Patek Philippe’s complicated watches made in the house! And the very first, is this one!
After completing this watch with a movement from the Wenger series, the company designated a series of movements from No. 869,238 to 869,309 which, with a few exceptions, was used for Ref. 2499/100 finished and cased in the house.
The entire, in-house series, with the exemption of this one (which was a prototype), follows an order, in a sense, that an increase in the number of the movement follows the increase in the number of the case. The second in-house 2499/100, with the case that has the subsequent serial number to ours, No. 2,792,096, cased the movement No. 869,238. And starting with movement 869,250, the number of the movement increases the same amount as the case number.
The first case made by Ateliers Réunis S.A. for the new series was No. 2,792,095 made in 1982, housing this very watch. The last one was No. 2,817,877, made in platinum, completed in 1989 and never sold. It is now in the Patek Philippe Museum (Inv. P-711). The first one we are proudly presenting in our New York auction on December 6.
The successor to Ref. 2499, Ref. 3970 was cased also by Ateliers Réunis. It was cased in a similar case, improved by a waterproof threaded back. And all that began with this very watch.
¹ For instance, watch No. 4035 on which production started in 1850.
² Charles and Jean Stern, from 1932.
³ Eventually, it was completed when in 2009 Patek Philippe enlarged its Plan-les-Ouates plant. The new enlarged facility has 50,000 square meters and spreads over six floors and four basement levels.
When watch collectors think of Patek Philippe, they generally think of the round perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch. This combination of complications has grown to define Patek Philippe as a brand, and the watches under this umbrella are at the heart of the horological legend. These timepieces have become icons of watch-investing and are now widely considered to be wearable works of art — the ‘holy grail’ for any collector of wristwatches.
Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest-ever vintage watch models, the 2499 has exerted a strong influence on the designs of many of the most renowned watchmakers. Over a period of 35 years, the 2499 was made in four separate series in a total production of only 349 pieces, the majority cased in yellow gold. A 2499 is considered the ultimate statement watch today, instantly recognizable and coveted by collectors of modern and vintage alike.
In order to fully understand the gravity of this wristwatch, it is necessary to examine its role and importance in the history of Patek Philippe. Reference 2499 is a perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch with moonphases. This set of complications is the "signature watch" by Patek Philippe. Many other sets of complications have starred in a Patek Philippe model at some point in time, but perpetual chronograph are the only line of watches that not only has always been present in Patek's catalogue since its first appearance on the market in 1941, but which kept a very recognizable style. In a way, one could say these models are the true custodians of Patek Philippe DNA and identity.
As mentioned, this line of wristwatches saw the light of day in 1941, with the presentation of reference 1518, the first serially produced perpetual chronograph by any brand. Its three subcounters dial is such an achievement of design that it will be kept virtually unchanged through all the different incarnations of the perpetual chronograph. The heir to the 1518 is reference 2499, followed by 3970 in 1989. From 2004 to 2010 the torch was passed on to reference 5970, and the youngest heir is 5270, in production today since its introduction in 2011.
Reference 2499 is divided into four different series, with slightly different case and dial details:
- The first series features square pushers and a traditional tachometer dial layout with outer railway fifth of a second divisions
- The second series keeps the same dial layout of the first series, but utilizes round pushers
- The third series has a cleaner dial layout, without tachometer scale, and round pushers
- The fourth series, also known as reference 2499/100, is the same as the third series but the presently offered example is not only historically important as one of the first 2499/100s made with case by Atelier Reunis (please see the following essay), it is also one the best preserved fourth series in existence. The case is crisp with the clean unpolished lines of the lugs boldly protruding from the case. The dial is original and untouched showing only the slight signs of aging expected for a 36 year old. The movement is also in beautiful original condition. This watch was originally sold by a Patek Philippe authorized retailer in New York City in 1982 and has remained unknown to this day. As a fresh to market trophy, this watch is a superlative example of the reference and will be a prize example for the discerning collector.
Other examples of reference 2499 are illustrated and described in Patek Philippe Museum - Patek Philippe Watches, Volume II, pp. 306-307.
THE VERY FIRST PATEK PHILIPPE WRISTWATCH FINISHED AND CASED IN THE HOUSE
Philip Poniz
To appreciate the importance of this watch we must understand the deep desire of Patek Philippe to consolidate all aspects of its production under one roof, the desire that goes to the very core of Patek Philippe’s ideology and the philosophy of their production. In the beginning, the company relied on different subcontractors supplying rough movements, cases, dials, etc.
As soon as Adrien Philippe joined the company he began making it more independent. In 1850, he succeeded with in-house production of the movements. He built machinery capable of producing rough watch movements (ebauches)¹ which used to be supplied by Louis Audemars, D.H. Piguet, Piguet Freres, and others. The system worked, but not to the complete satisfaction.
It took another hundred years until the Sterns, the new owners, decided to pick up Philippe’s philosophy². Over the years the family invested almost one billion francs to build a facility where they could consolidate all the aspects of the production under one roof. It took a few decades for them to succeed. Christie’s is proud to present the very first fruit of this success - a gold, complicated wristwatch, Reference 2499/100, with the Movement No 869435 and the Case No. 2792095.
The watch comes from the legendary two series of the most complicated wristwatches the company, at the time, produced; Ref. 1518 and its successor Ref. 2499. Both feature a perpetual calendar, a chronograph with an option of start/pause/go or start/stop/return-to-zero, and minute registers. Most of them were equipped with a tachometer and some with pulsometer scales. The company was producing approximately fourteen of these watches per year.
Ref. 2499 held a special place in the Patek Philippe production. It was introduced in 1950 to join the celebration of the second half of the century, a time full of hope for brighter years. All the important Swiss watch companies took part in the celebration. Rolex, for instance, had a large celebration on a yacht sailing the lake of Geneva. To make the trip more interesting, they set, but not wound, a few of their waterproof and self-winding watches, put them in a cage attached to the boat and dropped them into water and towed them all day long while the festivities lasted. Then, at the end of the day, the watches were brought up aboard; all ran and kept good time.
Patek Philippe celebrated the festivities with the launching of Ref. 2499. Eventually, it became the most legendary series of their watches. At the time of its creation, this series was one of the most complicated watches Patek Philippe had ever produced. Generally, Ref. 2499 is divided into four sub-series. This is a simplification, but for our story it is not important.
What is important is the fact that the Sterns wanted to produce their most complicated watches with all the components made by Patek Philippe itself. They started the journey with the Ref. 2499. The watch we present here is the first one produced on that journey.
The company knew that it could produce its own movements. As we saw, this was proven by Philippe already in 1850. The Sterns also knew how to make watch dials. After all, they owned one of the most prestigious watch dial companies in Switzerland. But they had little, if any, experience with manufacturing watch cases.
For instance, the entire Reference 1518, the most important complicated watch series at the time, was cased by Emile Vichet, an excellent Geneva casemaker, whose claim to fame came from his ability of making cases even for ultra-thin movements, including casing them in coins.
With the advent of Reference 2499, Emile Vichet continued casing this series too, but only for about the first two years. After that, Patek Philippe subcontracted the famous Wenger, SA, run by Édouard Wenger, who kept casing Ref. 2499 until 1982 including 2499/100.
What Wenger probably did not know, was that the owners of Patek Philippe were planning to have their watches made in their own cases, entirely by Patek Philippe itself.
To that end, in the 1970’s, Philippe Stern bought Ateliers Réunis S.A., a watch case company in Geneva, at Rue des Vieux-Grenadiers 7. Please note that the address is the same as where the Patek Philippe Museum stands today, a museum housing the most important watch collection in the world.
Ateliers Réunis was a case and watch bracelet company owned by the Sterns. In the beginning, the Sterns were not involved in the running of the company, but in 2005 Philippe Stern became the president taking over Monsieur Perret Marcel’s duties. It was there, that Philippe’s son, Thierry Stern, began studying the manufacturing side of the business, where he also became involved with the methods of production for the first time. In 2009 he took over his father’s duties and became the president of Ateliers Réunis. A few years later he consolidated the company with the Patek Philippe empire as a watch case manufacturing department.
In order to continue with our watch we must point out certain characteristics of Ref. 2499.
UNDERSTANDING REF. 2499
As I mentioned before, the division of Ref. 2499, as it stands today, is far from perfect. To go over the differences is beyond the scope of this essay but certain elements must be pointed out to understand the importance of this watch.
The serial numbers are not chronological. For instance, an early No. 869250 corresponds to 2499/100 from 1982, but a higher number 869441 corresponds to 1971 from, the so called, Series 3.
-The series is often mixed with another series, for instance, No. 863,792 belongs to Ref. 2499 but the following number, 863,793, belongs to an earlier Ref, 1518.
-The sub-series are also mixed; a watch from Series 3 can be before series 2.
-The reason for all this was that during the production, any of the 13’’’-130 QP movements could fit any of the cases. It was not practical to always follow the numerical order.
-The division of Ref. 2499 for Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, was not done by Patek Philippe but by a certain horologist in the late 1980’s, who wanted to aid himself with the descriptions of these watches. Although, at the time, helpful, it missed the divisions made by Patek Philippe itself.
-The Ref. 2499/100 is unique because it was marked so, by the company itself.
The decision to start this new series was made by Patek Philippe in 1970s.
The casing was done by Wenger, for whom it was a natural continuation of casing Ref. 2499, which he started about a quarter of a century before. He continued making cases for 2499/100 until 1982, his last case No. 2,779,193 having the movement No. 869432.
We do not know exactly when Sterns decided to make their own 2499/100. It might have been earlier than it is believed. For their first watch (this one) they took a movement, No. 869,435 from circa 1970. It was from a series of movements designated for Wenger, who used them from the early 1960s to at least 1977. It was a complete series of numbers starting from No. 869,329 to No. 869,491 or maybe a few numbers more.
The serial number of this watch, 869,435, is from a series of Wenger 2499’s, not from the series of Patek Philippe 2499/100s, as we will see. The consecutive ten numbers 869,436 - 869,446 Wenger cased in 1971 and 1972.
In 1982, the Sterns were ready to make their own cases for the Ref. 2499!
Although 1982 saw the last of Ref. 2499 cased by Wenger it was not the end of 2499 for the Sterns. For them it was actually the beginning of Ref. 2499 cased by Patek Philippe itself, the most complicated series cased in the house!
There is a general misconception regarding the 2499/100. It has been thought that 2499/100 is just the finish of the Ref. 2499. But no, it was actually the beginning of Patek Philippe’s complicated watches made in the house! And the very first, is this one!
After completing this watch with a movement from the Wenger series, the company designated a series of movements from No. 869,238 to 869,309 which, with a few exceptions, was used for Ref. 2499/100 finished and cased in the house.
The entire, in-house series, with the exemption of this one (which was a prototype), follows an order, in a sense, that an increase in the number of the movement follows the increase in the number of the case. The second in-house 2499/100, with the case that has the subsequent serial number to ours, No. 2,792,096, cased the movement No. 869,238. And starting with movement 869,250, the number of the movement increases the same amount as the case number.
The first case made by Ateliers Réunis S.A. for the new series was No. 2,792,095 made in 1982, housing this very watch. The last one was No. 2,817,877, made in platinum, completed in 1989 and never sold. It is now in the Patek Philippe Museum (Inv. P-711). The first one we are proudly presenting in our New York auction on December 6.
The successor to Ref. 2499, Ref. 3970 was cased also by Ateliers Réunis. It was cased in a similar case, improved by a waterproof threaded back. And all that began with this very watch.
¹ For instance, watch No. 4035 on which production started in 1850.
² Charles and Jean Stern, from 1932.
³ Eventually, it was completed when in 2009 Patek Philippe enlarged its Plan-les-Ouates plant. The new enlarged facility has 50,000 square meters and spreads over six floors and four basement levels.