Sotheby’s to Offer Important Watches on April 28, 2009 Sotheby’s spring sale of Important Watches will take place on April 28, 2009, and will offer a selection of vintage and modern timepieces by the market’s finest makers.
News-Antique.com - Apr 20,2009 - New York, New York – Sotheby’s spring sale of Important Watches will take place on April 28, 2009, and will offer a selection of vintage and modern timepieces by the market’s finest makers. In addition to a strong selection of men’s watches, this sale will also feature a particularly large selection of ladies’ wristwatches by makers such as de Grisogono, Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe, as well as a variety of pocket watches, including some pieces originally sold in Sotheby’s Time Museum, Part IV sale in 2004. The sale of approximately 165 lots is estimated to bring more than $3.2 million* and will be on exhibition at Sotheby’s New York galleries beginning April 24.
The Patek Philippe Fine and Rare Yellow Gold Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Wristwatch with Moon-Phases and Register from 1970, Ref. 2499JHL (est. $250/350,000, pictured pg. 1) is recognized as one of the most important wristwatches made by Patek Philippe. With only 349 pieces made during its production between 1950 and 1985, or an average of nine pieces a year, the Ref. 2499 is an extremely rare piece and one that was made with the utmost attention paid to each detail. The present model is from the third of four series that the maker produced of this reference, and is distinguished by its simple dial design, without the tachometer scale that had appeared on previous models.
Another highlight of the sale will be a Patek Philippe Very Fine and Rare Pink Gold Wristwatch with a hand-painted cloisonné enamel dial from 1954, Ref. 2494R ‘Flowers’ (est. $70/100,000), which is being offered by the family of the watch’s original owner. Ref 2494 first appeared in 1951, and was produced for approximately three years thereafter. The present watch is probably unique – as of this writing no other examples from this reference are known to bear a cloisonné enamel dial.
Also among the top Patek Philippe pieces on offer is a Fine and Rare Yellow Gold Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Wristwatch with Register, Tachometer and Moon-Phases made in 1945, Ref. 1518 (est. $200/300,000). The watch was first owned by Arthur Wirtz, a successful Chicago businessman who created and owned the Chicago Blackhawks and later owned the Bulls. The perpetual calendar wristwatch was the most elite timepiece available in the middle of the 20 th century, and Patek Philippe was the first maker to master and produce the watch in series with the introduction of the reference 1518. Indeed, the series-produced perpetual calendar wristwatch was almost exclusively a Patek Philippe commodity for four decades, and its introduction greatly contributed to the maker’s dominance in the Swiss watch-making industry. From 1941 to 1954, a total of 281 reference 1518 wristwatches were made – an incredibly small production run by today’s standards and an average of just 20 watches a year.
A Patek Philippe Fine and Rare Yellow Gold Chronograph Wristwatch with Tachometer and Register made in 1952, Ref. 1463J, will also be included (est. $100/150,000). When it made its debut in 1940,
