201,500 CHF
Patek, Philippe & Cie. , Genève,No. 174644, case No. 174644, made for Tiffany & Co. circa 1915.Exceptionally fine and possibly unique 18K gold keyless "EXTRA" adjusted, astronomical, minute-repeating pocket chronometer with perpetual calendar, phases of the moon and split-seconds chronograph with Guillaume balance, accompanied by the Extract from the Archives. Notes This is to our knowledge the only triple-complicated Patek Philippe pocket chronometer with Guillaume balance. There are two known Patek Philippe watches with perpetual calendar and Guillaume balance (Nos. 80770 and 174688) but no additional complications.This watch comes from a small series of complicated watches made for Patek Philippe for clients such as James Ward Packard (Nos 174623 and 174749), or Henry Graves, Jr. In the same series are the famous Patek Philippe tourbillon watches with carriages made by James Pellaton. The present watch was especially made for Tiffany & Co., undoubtedly for a very special client.Anibal (acier au nickel pour balanciers), an alloy invented by Dr. Charles Edouard Guillaume, exhibits unusual properties, both in terms of thermal expansion and in changes in elasticity. These properties are very different from those of two other famous alloys invented by Guillaume, Invar and Elinvar. Around 1900 Guillaume attempted to eliminate the so-called Middle Temperature Error caused by the fact that the change of rate in a timekeeper with a steel-brass bimetallic balance is approxima
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-04-12
