$74,750
"Yellow World Time" Patek Philippe & Cie, Genève, No. 920431, case No. 623740, Ref. 1415. Made in 1941, sold on January 10, 1942. Production of this reference started in 1939. Extremely rare and very fine, 18K yellow gold gentleman’s "World Time" wristwatch with an 18K yellow gold Patek Philippe flexible link bracelet with clasp. Accompanied by an Extract from the Archives. Three-body, solid, polished and brushed, revolving coin-edged bezel bearing the names of 30 global locations, teardrop lugs. Matte silver with black painted bâton indexes and applied yellow gold Roman quarters, surrounded by a bi-colored revolving 24-hour dial for the nocturnal and diurnal hours. Yellow gold “fancy” hands. Notes "World Time System". This system was invented around 1935 by Louis Cottier (1894 - 1966), a famous independent watchmaker in Geneva. This World Time system was used by Patek Philippe and also by other major names in the Swiss watch industry, such as Agassiz, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin. Patek Philippe created various series of “World Timers” from 1937 to the mid-1960s: Ref. 515, a rectangular “galbé” pink gold model made in 1937, with the names of 28 cities in the world on the dial, the time differences between them based on Greenwich Mean Time. It is the earliest known and only three examples are known today. One was sold by Antiquorum, in Geneva, on April 10, 1994, lot 502, for SFr. 550,000 (US$ 388,560). Ref. 542 HU (Ø 28 mm.), started around 1937, bears the names
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2005-12-07
