

Avricoste, the watchmaker to the French navy, dates its history back to 1854 as a supplier to the French military of the most accurate modern timekeepers. In the mid 60's, the company formed a unique alliance with Patek Philippe's electronic division.
The present lot is an example of this collaboration, a piece with signatures from both makers; Patek would be the supplier of the movement and Avricost the official distributor. This master clock was likely used on a French vessel in the Marine Nationale. These clocks were used to calibrate the additional clocks aboard the vessel through a master/slave system. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clock in this configuration from these collaborations to come to auction, a rare late 20th century example of the chronometers made by the company for the French navy over its 150 years.