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Lot Essay
Christie’s Hong Kong is delighted to present to international collectors this almost certainly unique rose gold reference 5004R-024 with Certificate of Origin-confirmed stunningly attractive special-order black dial. Furthermore, it is offered with the complete set of accessories and Patek Philippe archive photograph. Unusual for its colour alone, the dial additionally features some very special and distinctive individual details that are, to the best of our knowledge, unique to this watch: a single rose gold Roman numeral at 12 o’clock; rose gold dot hour markers; and, unlike the standard production model, a tachymeter scale for measuring speed over a known distance. In fact, very few dials of reference 5004 featured a tachymeter scale and those few pieces were either probably unique special orders such as the present watch, or made available only by invitation to Patek Philippe’s best and most loyal clients.
Reference 5004 is one of Patek Philippe’s most important and admired ‘Grande Complication’ watches of the modern era, it includes several of the most significant complications known to horology. With perpetual calendar, split seconds chronograph, moon phases, as well as 24-hour and leap year indications, it is an undoubted masterpiece. Such is its complexity, it is thought that no more than 12 pieces could be made and finished in any one year. The present watch is likely to be a one-off configuration for any reference 5004R, a ravishing bespoke commission for a VIP collector. This reference 5004R-024 can undoubtedly be considered one of the most important key pieces amongst this now legendary and universally appreciated model, it will justifiably be the ultimate ownership goal of many collectors worldwide.
Reference 5004
In 1994, Patek Philippe launched an exceptional and ingenious new model that upped the stakes among complicated wristwatches, the reference 5004. This perpetual calendar chronograph is a split-seconds or ‘rattrapante’ chronograph and was the company’s first serially produced split-seconds perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch. One of the most difficult of complications to construct, Patek Philippe created a new second mechanism called an ‘octopus isolator’, an instant reset system which successfully eliminated the problem known as ‘rattrapante drag’. Discontinued in 2012, the reference 5004 demonstrated yet again Patek Philippe’s complete mastery of even the most complex horological challenges.
Already considered a modern classic, the reference 5004 embodies the essence of Patek Philippe’s design legacy of the post war decades, but also the savoir faire of their skilled watchmakers, who managed to encompass such an array of complications and include a split-second within a case of subtle proportions.
Reference 5004 is one of Patek Philippe’s most important and admired ‘Grande Complication’ watches of the modern era, it includes several of the most significant complications known to horology. With perpetual calendar, split seconds chronograph, moon phases, as well as 24-hour and leap year indications, it is an undoubted masterpiece. Such is its complexity, it is thought that no more than 12 pieces could be made and finished in any one year. The present watch is likely to be a one-off configuration for any reference 5004R, a ravishing bespoke commission for a VIP collector. This reference 5004R-024 can undoubtedly be considered one of the most important key pieces amongst this now legendary and universally appreciated model, it will justifiably be the ultimate ownership goal of many collectors worldwide.
Reference 5004
In 1994, Patek Philippe launched an exceptional and ingenious new model that upped the stakes among complicated wristwatches, the reference 5004. This perpetual calendar chronograph is a split-seconds or ‘rattrapante’ chronograph and was the company’s first serially produced split-seconds perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch. One of the most difficult of complications to construct, Patek Philippe created a new second mechanism called an ‘octopus isolator’, an instant reset system which successfully eliminated the problem known as ‘rattrapante drag’. Discontinued in 2012, the reference 5004 demonstrated yet again Patek Philippe’s complete mastery of even the most complex horological challenges.
Already considered a modern classic, the reference 5004 embodies the essence of Patek Philippe’s design legacy of the post war decades, but also the savoir faire of their skilled watchmakers, who managed to encompass such an array of complications and include a split-second within a case of subtle proportions.