On June 11 at Christie’s New York, the most important watch is going to be sold at the auction. A rare 18K gold Patek Philippe pocket watch is expected to fetch $1.5 million. Manufactured in 1898 this watch has never before been seen in public.
The openface minute repeating perpetual calendar split-seconds chronograph pocket watch with grande and petite sonnerie and moon phases, was purchased in 1900 by American industrial Stephen S. Palmer and has been stored ever since. Palmer paid 6,500 Swiss Francs for the watch in 1900 which was a lot of money for that time. Until his discovery the world was tought that the Patek’s first watch compilation was made in 1910.
The watch is the only example known to have been cased in pink gold, whereas all following pieces were cased in yellow gold according to the style of the early 20 century. The Palmer watch comes complete with its original documentation including the certificate of authenticity and presentation box.
Patek Philippe have had a luxurious clientele such as Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert, Christian IX and Princess Louise of Denmark, Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Hussein Kamel Sultan of Egypt so this watch could not cost less than expected price.
