SIGNED PATEK PHILIPPE, GENEVE, REF. 2526, MOVEMENT NO. 761'484, CASE NO. 684'544, CIRCA 1954

Reference 2526 is famously known for its beautiful and sophisticated cream hard enamel dial with applied gold baton numerals. Extremely 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 six other examples of reference 2526 were fitted with applied Breguet numerals, one of which was owned by Andy Warhol.

An interesting and important consideration regarding the originality and rarity of the present enamel dial is the manner in which the gold Breguet numerals are applied. For the dials of early series watches, the applied hour markers are mounted on the dial by means of pins protruding from the back of the index, through corresponding holes in the dial plate. These holes must be pre-drilled before the dial plate is enamelled and 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 to allow for their varied shapes and whether 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.

The incredibly smart look of this reference it is greatly enhanced by the substantial rarity of the enamel Breguet numeral dial and state of the art caliber 12-600 AT self-winding movement. With only a handful of known examples, the present watch is without doubt one of the most elite of time only wristwatches.