Dear watch aficionado.
Same procedure as every year. As timepieces are my life and passion, it is always with greatest joy that I wait for the Geneva auctions in November and as well in May, to see all the watches and friends back again.
First things first:
This year it was a bit of a "weird" situation with one Patek Philippe 1518 in steel available with Mr. Davide Parmegiani and the other one coming up at auction this last weekend at Phillips watches. So half of the 1518s in steel that were made were available at the same time. And then, there was a lot of talking going on...
I had the great honour and pleasure in the past more then 10 years to learn about watches, dials, from my best friend and mentor Dr. Helmut Crott. I remember the times when we were working on his book "Le Cadran" and when we sat down with f.ex. the late Roland Thile at the auction houses, took apart some of the most important timepieces to check the dials in all it details. Roland Thile worked for Cadran Stern and was as well an apprentice of Maurice Thiévent who was the master engraver back then, when all the legendary references of Patek Philippe were made. So I could learn that f.ex. these dials on these 1518s in steel were all engraved by hand, the indices were cut out by hand (when checking the photos of the four examples in the book of the great Auro Montanari, one can see that they are all slightly different), etc... There was a lot of craftsmenship put into these dials back then.
Now, when I looked at the 1518 steel at Phillips in the metal, I saw, that there is no question about that it saw some restoration in the past. But I thought that the finissage, satiné vertical, on the dial looked still very fine and original (not rough). As well the gravé émaillé looked original and not re-printed. I could see as well that there was no sapon on top of the hand cut indices. The more, I saw a photo of the back of the dial, which showed some nice oxidation, which is always a good sign. Because when those dials do have no oxidation at all on the back, one can almost be sure that there was a major restoration with re-doing the silver, etc... Overall I thought that the watch still looked in very nice and pleasing condition. And yes, it is one of only four 1518s in steel ever made and so I think that some sort of restorations need to be accepted. And to be honest, there are only a few untouched or un-restored 1518s overall out there.
I am very happy for Phillips but as well for Davide Parmegiani that they both sold their watches and I am very happy for the new owners of the both watches, because they both got one of the most legendary Pateks that one could own in a collection! And for the future, I am quite sure that the big theme of restoration will put their watches even on a higher level, because with that theme of restorations we are still only at the beginning. I think that for the future the experts should sit together to work out a procedure to declare the level of restoration that was done on a watch and so the effect on the value of a watch but at the same time the rarity of a watch needs to be considered as well. There would be a lot of factors need to be considered!
When the glass is half full, it is as well half empty at the same time. One always needs to look at the both sides, as always in life ;)
Here I will show you some other favorite timepieces of mine which I saw at the Phillips preview. Some of them were sold during this weekend, some of them will be available at the Hong Kong auction and the others at the New York auction.
François-Paul Journe Chronomètre à Résonance, Souscription N°02/00R sold for 3 327 000CHF
Patek Philippe 2499 first series yellow gold with Wenger case, sold for 1 633 000CHF
John Player and Son Hyper Complication sold for 2 238 000CHF
Charles Frodsham with J.P. Morgan provenance sold for 406 400CHF
Smith and Son Grande Complication sold for 88 900CHF, which I think was a bargain
Derek Pratt/Peter Baumberger era Urban Jürgensen sold for 139 700CHF, which I think was a bargain
Andersen Genève répétition minutes with case made by the legendary JHP. Always when I see a timepiece with a case made by Jean-Pierre I have to think about him and what an extraordinary person he was. The more, he was as well very good friend with Svend and Helmut. This piece was sold for 114 300CHF, which I think is a bargain too.
Patek Philippe 2597 pink gold. This is probably the best 2597 that I have seen so far. Perfect dial, perfect case, probably untouched. But not only that the watch itself is in superb condition but it is as well double signed with Gübelin and it comes with tons of documentation. A real trophy. This one will be sold in Hong Kong.
Patek Philippe 3448J with a really sharp case. They are rarely seen with such superbly preserved cases. Very nice example. Will be sold in Hong Kong.
William Ilbery, with Dupont émail. These are really a piece of art and at those estimates they are really a bargain. One have to think about to own such a breathtaking timepiece in 1820! This example will be sold in Hong Kong.
And then there was the 250th anniversary Breguet sale at Sotheby's. Here above are the four favorite timepieces of mine which were on sale at that auction. It is always such a great honour when having the opportunity to see such extraordinary and historical important timepieces in person. The only thing that I don't understand is, is that the early Rattrapante was not sold. There were only 2 of these early Rattrapante watches made by Breguet and so I think that one could talk about pretty seriously rare timepieces, not to mention the historical importance. But nevertheless, the results were overall very strong for this sale and showed interest of some important collectors into historical important timepieces.
And then there was the news about the discovery of these two Patek Philippe timepieces above, each one with a double movement! which was unseen before! These watches were discovered by Daryn Schnipper in the Olmsted collection. They were originally bought by Mr. Morehead, who was previously unknown as a collector till today. Mr. Morehead did play in the same league like Graves and Packard, so one can only imagine what will be more about to surface from that collection! Big thanks to Daryn for showing me these timepieces and taking your time to explain these to me, it was an honour.
Another time machine from the Olmsted collection that really impressed me is the Audemars Piguet/Smith and Son "Grosse pièce" Celestial. If I am correct, it is the only one beside the Graves, Packard and Calibre 89 with a celestial double dial. So making this the fourth known. The Star Calibre 2000 I wouldn't count in, as it is more of a modern era?
So, isn't this "Grosse pièce" Celestial from 1920 as well the first Grande Complications made with double celestial dial before the Packard 1927 and the Graves 1933?
An absolute dream of a watch and watchmaking history!
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Kind regards.
ChB
www.watchcollector.lu
