Important Collector's Watches, Pocket...
Geneva, Nov 11, 2007
LOT 69
Pink Gold Ref. 2526 Patek Philippe, Genève, retailed by Serpico y Laino, No. 761177, case No. 685310, Ref. 2526, 1st generation. Made in 1954, sold on March 29, 1955, Caracas, Venezuela. Very fine and extremely rare, early, self-winding, water-resistant, 18K pink gold wristwatch with enamel dial and the original 18K pink gold Patek Philippe gadrooned and tile-link ?G? bracelet. Accompanied by the Extract from the Archives.
CHF 150,000 - 180,000
EUR 90,000 - 110,000 / USD 125,000 - 150,000
C. Two-body, solid, polished, rounded bezel, screwed-down flat case back, concave lugs. D. Off-white enamel with applied pink gold faceted baton indexes, outer dot minute divisions, subsidiary seconds dial. Pink gold dauphine hands. M. Cal. 12'''-600 AT, stamped with the Seal of Geneva Quality Mark, rhodium-plated, fausses-côtes decoration, 30 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, Gyromax balance adjusted to heat, cold, isochronism and 5 positions, shock absorber, self-compensating Breguet balance-spring, swan neck micrometer regulator, 18K guilloché yellow gold rotor. Dial, case, and movement signed. Diam. 35 mm. Thickness 12 mm. Approx. overall length 185 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: |
|
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 2 |
Very good |
Dial: 2-01 |
Very good HANDS Original |
Notes
Launched by Patek Philippe in 1953, this was the company?s first self-winding wristwatch, with caliber 12'''- 600 AT, and serial numbers beginning with 760,000. It would appear that Patek Philippe produced the Ref. 2526 in 580 examples, most with an enamel dial. According to the Extract from the Archives, the present watch was made in 1951 and therefore was early in the series. The latest automatic movement by Patek Philippe at the time, it later became the Ref. 3428: 20 examples in platinum, 30 examples in white gold, 50 examples in pink gold, 480 examples in yellow gold.
Ref. 2526 is highly sought-after by collectors. For reference 2526, Patek Philippe offered the choice of 9 different types of gold bracelet. In different colors of gold or in platinum, they were designated by letters from A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and K and were made by Gay Frères and Ponti Gennari.
There have been four generations of this model, as follows:
- 1st generation: domed screw back, beige enamel dial with applied indexes. The enamel is flared around the holes which hold the indexes, the central hands and the subsidiary seconds hand.
- 2nd generation: domed screw back, beige enamel dial with applied indexes. The indexes are inlaid in the enamel surface; the enamel is flared around the holes which hold the central hands and the subsidiary seconds hand. In this particular series, only a very few examples were made with a black dial and even fewer ith Breguet numerals.
- 3rd generation: identical to the 2nd generation but with a practically flat screw back. Very few examples of this series were produced with a black dial, and only one with a black dial and Breguet numerals is known to date.
- 4th generation: practically flat screw back, beige enamel dial with applied indexes. The indexes are luminescent and inlaid in the enamel surface; the enamel is flared around the holes which hold the central hands and the subsidiary seconds hand. The first wristwatch of this series, Ref. 2526, also the first Patek Philippe selfwinding wristwatch, is pictured in "Collecting Patek Philippe Watches", M. and O. Patrizzi, Guido Mondani Editore, Genova, 2000, p. 127.