Lot description
Patek Philippe Reference 96 A unique and historically important yellow gold full calendar wristwatch with moon phases and Breguet numerals, Made in 1937 and sold to Tiffany & Co. in 1940 Dial: silvered Calibre: cal. 11’’’ mechanical, jewelled Movement number: 860’230 Case: 18k yellow gold, snap on case back Case number: 295’441 Closure: brown Attila leather strap and 18k yellow gold Patek Philippe buckle Size: 30.5 mm diameter Signed: case, dial and movement Accessories: Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch in 1937 and its subsequent sale on 17 October 1940 One of Patek Philippe's first complicated wristwatches In 1877, the Calatrava Cross became the official trademark of Patek, Philippe & Cie. Today, the Calatrava is the name given to the brand’s family of round, mainly time only watches. The most classic of which starts with the celebrated reference, the 96. The reference 96 was Patek Philippe’s first Calatrava wristwatch. It was introduced in 1932 and was made until 1973. The reference can be found in stainless steel, yellow gold, white gold, pink gold and platinum. It can also be found with a variety of dials and configurations. Sector dials, Observatory dials, diamond dials, enamel dials, black dials, Breguet indexes, hard enamel indexes, luminous indexes and with subsidiary seconds, center seconds, indirect center seconds and no seconds. According to scholarship, more than 10,000 pieces across metals were made over a 40-year period. Towards the late 1930’s, Patek Philippe manufactured a dozen highly unusual examples of reference 96 that are rarely known to exist to the public. There are 2 known gold reference 96 fitted with the worldtime complication and there are 9 simple calendar wristwatches and 1 perpetual calendar wristwatch known. If we analyze further the 4 gold examples, each watch is different from the next, rendering each example unique. Of the 5 platinum examples, two are identical with salmon chapter ring dials. The first of the two was sold by Sothebys in 2001 for 1.8m Swiss Francs. This watch now resides comfortably in the Patek Philippe museum. The second example, sold by Phillips in May 2023 for over 6m USD and was formerly the property of the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Aisin-Gioro Puyi. Sotheby’s, is delighted to present this historically important reference 96 with simple calendar in yellow gold to the market today. Consigned by one of the leading collectors in the world, the watch is significant in its state of preservation, its configuration and history as one of the important milestones in the brand’s history. The watch was manufactured in 1937 and sold to Tiffany in 1940, no doubt for one of their most important patrons at the time. The watch first appeared on the market in 1989, making close to 1 million Swiss Francs. Again, at Christies in 2007 and finally in 2011, sold to a world renowned collector where the watch has been sleeping ever since. This example has been retained in beautiful original condition, with hard enamel signature and a case with good proportions and hallmarks. Of all the calendar watches known, this is also the only example known with applied Breguet indexes and the moon phases the right-side up at 12’oclock. The present example has huge importance in the history of Patek Philippe as it is one of the very first complicated wristwatches ever to leave the workshops of the firm. The significance of this watch cannot be overstated as it offers an historical account of the firm’s desire to move into complicated wristwatch manufacturing and was released before the ref. 1518 and 1526 perpetual calendar models. The watch is a true “Trophy’ watch and has significant historical importance to the market of complicated Patek Philippe wristwatches.
