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Lot Essay
With Patek Philippe Certificate of Origin dated 14 December 2007 and issued by Salon Patek Philippe de Genève, leather binder, fitted presentation box and outer packaging. Further delivered with Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch with blue periphery on the dial in 2007 and its subsequent sale on 13 December 2007.
Offered in outstanding condition by its original owner, reference 5104 is one of the very few skeletonized models by Patek Philippe and by far the most complex, including a perpetual calendar with moon phases and a minute repeater, both considered Patek Philippe specialties. A timepiece reserved only for the most important clients of the firm, it was sold exclusively through the Patek Philippe Salon in Geneva. The total production is estimated around 100 examples in total, and so far only seven other watches came back to the market, a testament to the attachment collectors feel toward this superb skeletonized timepiece.
In effect, this watch should be considered a semi-skeletonized watch, as four subsidiary dials are indeed present. However they are completely transparent, allowing for an unobstructed view of the movement that rivals that of many fully skeletonized watches. The calendar information is displayed through a very ingenious - and patented - system: instead of hands moving above the subsidiary dials, the watch has black squares moving under the subsidiary dials. The contrast between the white graphic of the designations and the black square provides a readability with an immediacy and clarity hardly ever seen on skeletonized timepieces, and even more rarely on highly complicated skeletonized wristwatches.
Offered in outstanding condition by its original owner, reference 5104 is one of the very few skeletonized models by Patek Philippe and by far the most complex, including a perpetual calendar with moon phases and a minute repeater, both considered Patek Philippe specialties. A timepiece reserved only for the most important clients of the firm, it was sold exclusively through the Patek Philippe Salon in Geneva. The total production is estimated around 100 examples in total, and so far only seven other watches came back to the market, a testament to the attachment collectors feel toward this superb skeletonized timepiece.
In effect, this watch should be considered a semi-skeletonized watch, as four subsidiary dials are indeed present. However they are completely transparent, allowing for an unobstructed view of the movement that rivals that of many fully skeletonized watches. The calendar information is displayed through a very ingenious - and patented - system: instead of hands moving above the subsidiary dials, the watch has black squares moving under the subsidiary dials. The contrast between the white graphic of the designations and the black square provides a readability with an immediacy and clarity hardly ever seen on skeletonized timepieces, and even more rarely on highly complicated skeletonized wristwatches.