Today's post brings you the Only Watch 2013 Special Ref #5004T from Patek Philippe.
PATEK PHILIPPE
Geneva, 1839, Polish migrants Antoni Patek and Franciszek Czapek began making pocket watches. The team lasted until 1845 when Czapek went his own way. A year earlier, Patek was in Paris where he met Jean-Adrien Philppe who presented his pioneering keyless winding mechanism. In 1851, Philippe officially became associated with Patek & Co and the company was renamed Patek Philippe.
That year, the company began supplying watches to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Other clients included Christian IX and Princess Louise of Denmark, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Sultan Hussein Kamel of Egypt among others. From its founding, Patek Philippe designed and manufactured a range of timepieces and movements that included some of the most complicated mechanical watches. It is widely considered the world's most prestigious watch brand by many experts and aficionados.
The company found great success in it's early years and in 1932, was purchased by two brothers, Charles and Jean Stern, co-owners of a dial manufacture in Geneva. Patek Philippe is now under the helm of president Theirry Stern who took over from his father, Philippe Stern who remains as honorary president. Now into the 4th generation, Patek Philippe S.A. remains a family owned company.
Patek Philippe: Birth of a Legend video:
Patek Philippe is notable to manufacturing their own watch components. Many companies will outsource various parts such as springs, cases, dials and the like. Like other manufactures they focus mostly on producing mechanical movements, automatic and manual. In the past the company has built quartz watches and, in 1958, a prototype digital wrist watch, the Ref. 3414.
When it comes to complications (functions), Patek Philippe has held the record for putting the highest number of complications in a single watch. To celebrate the company's 150th anniversary in 1989 they created the commemorative pocket watch, the Calibre 89. Four versions were made, one each in white gold, yellow gold, rose gold and platinum. Slightly larger than a standard pocket watch, and weighing 1.1kg, it has 24 hands and is comprised of 1728 components. The Calibre 89 boasts 39 complications including the date of Easter, time of sunrise, equation of time, sidereal time, and many other indicators. It is also able to add a day to February for leap years while leaving out the extra day for every 100 year interval.
Short list of Complications (Features)
Day of the month
12-hour recorder
Day of the week
Hour of second time-zone
Moon phase display
Winding crown position indicator
Century decade and year displays
Leap Year Indicator
Power reserve
Month
Thermometer
Date of Easter
Time of sunrise
Equation of time
Star chart displaying 2800 stars in relation to the Earth.
Sun hand
Time of sunset
Split second hand
The videos below demonstrate several of the complications in this amazing timepiece.
Patek Philippe watches are highly regarded and often realise high prices at auction, usually appreciating in value over time. A pocket-watch with 24 complications that was produced for Henrry Graves Jr in 1933, and known as "The Supercomplication") was auctioned by Sotheby's in December of 1999 for a final price of US$11,000,000.
It was a Patek Philippe watch that reached $1.4 million at the last Only Watch auction in 2011. The highest price for any piece that year.
One of the great classics of the Patek Philippe Grand Complications collection between 1995 and 2011, Reference 5004 embodied the traditional, manually wound chronograph at its highest level. Its Calibre CHR 27-70Q is based on a "Nouvelle Lemania" movement, produced exclusively for Patek Philippe and completely reworked in the company's workshops, added with a sophisticated split-seconds mechanism and a very fine perpetual calendar. The movement comprises 407 parts, meticulously finished by hand according to the workshops' time-honoured methods.
This Only Watch 2013 special reference 5004T is the first and only version ever produced in titanium.
Catalogue Description:
| PATEK PHILIPE REF. 5004 titanium Patek Philippe, Genève, Ref. 5004T. Fine and unique split-seconds chronograph wristwatch with 30-minute counter, perpetual calendar, moon phases, leap year and 24-hour indications. Accompanied by a fitted wooden box, Certificate of Origin, setting pin, hangtag and leather folio. | |
| C. Three-body, solid, polished, sapphire crystal scew-down caseback, case band with 4 correctors, push button in the crown for the split-seconds function and 2 push-buttons to start (at 2) and stop (at 4) the chronograph. Concave bezel, fluted lugs, sapphire crystals. Case and prong buckle in titanium. Water-resistant. D. Solid gold dial plate. Black with hand-guilloché carbon pattern and gold applied Arabic numerals. Subsidiary dials: 30-minute counter and leap year at 3, days of the month at 6, seconds and 24 hours indication at 9, apertures for the days of the week, the months and the moon phases, outer 1/5th seconds track. White gold leaf-shaped hands. M. Cal. CHR 27-70 PS Q, stamped with the Geneva Seal quality hallmark, rhodium-plated, Geneva striping decoration, 28 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, Gyromax® balance, shock absorber, self-compensating Breguet balance spring. | |
| Estimate: 400,000 EUR - 600,000 EUR |
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Slightly larger than a standard pocket watch.
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