Patek Philippe

Reference 725 | A very fine gold open-faced perpetual calendar keyless lever watch with moon phases | Made in 1941

VAT applies to hammer price and buyer's premium

Auction Closed

November 10, 01:01 PM GMT

Estimate

35,000 - 55,000 CHF

Lot Details

Description

· 17’’’ Victorin Piguet & Cie ébauche, calibre 17-170, damascened Côtes de Genève decoration, stamped twice with the Geneva seal, straight line lever escapement, jewelled to the centre, bi-metallic compensation balance, micrometer regulation, Breguet hairspring, movement signed and numbered Patek Philippe & Co. Genève, No. 930139

· silvered dial signed Patek Philippe & Co. Genève, applied gold Arabic numerals, outer minute ring with applied gold dots at the hours, four subsidiary dials with French abbreviations for days, months/leap year cycle, date, subsidiary seconds combined with aperture for moon phases, the calendar with blued steel feuille hands, gold feuille hour, minute and subsidiary seconds hands

· 18ct yellow gold case, scooped bezel, pendant with hooped bow, case back with vertical satin finish, satin finished case sides, recessed pusher to right side of case for simultaneous manual advancement of the calendar indications, further pusher beneath 7 o’clock for advancing moon phases, signed and numbered Patek Philippe & Co. Genève, No. 626639, poinçon de Genève key mark 1

diameter 46mm

Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract form the Archives confirming production in 1941 and date of sale on June 28, 1943.

Christie’s, Geneva, 15 November 1989, lot 278

A similar example of the model with movement number 930204 can be found at the Patek Philippe Museum (Inv. P-208) and is illustrated in: Patek Philippe Museum, Patek Philippe Watches Vol. 1, Geneva: Patek Philippe, 2013, p. 286.

Production of reference 725 began in 1940. It is interesting to note the similarities between the styling of the reference 725 pocket watch and its contemporary wristwatch models. The first series reference 725, to which the present lot belongs, had applied Arabic and dot numerals, similar to those of the famous perpetual calendar reference 1526 wristwatch. The second series of Ref. 725 featured applied baton numerals, a change that was also seen in the last examples of the reference 2497 and the 2438-1 models. Both the first and second series of reference 725 had scooped bezels, another design feature in common with the major complication Patek Philippe wristwatches of the same era.