Swiss 18 carat gold open faced lever pocket watch Circa 1903

A Swiss 18 carat gold keyless wind open faced pocket watch, manufactured 1903, sold 27th June 1904. Nickel finish Swiss lever movement, cut and compensated bimetallic balance. Silvered dial, black spiralised Arabic numerals, black outer minute divisions, subsidiary seconds at 6 and blued steel hands. Polished hinged case. Dial and movement signed, movement co signed J.J. Freeman & Co, Toledo, O. Comes with service paperwork dated 2000 and an Extract from the Archives.
–
Diameter: 47 mm
–
Sigend: Patek Philippe & Cie Genève
–
In 1844 Patek met the French watchmaker Jean-Adrien Philippe, who demonstrated his new invention: the first watch without a wind-up key. Patek and Philippe decided to work together from 1845 and in 1851 their company Patek Philippe and Cie was founded. In 1901 the name was officially Ancienne Manufacture d’Horlogerie Patek Philippe and Cie, S.A.
–
The company has 70 patents and produces the entire clockwork in-house.
–
Patek Philippe (1839), together with Audemars Piguet (1875), Vacheron Constantin (1755) and A. Lange und Sohne (1845), is considered to be “the big four” in the watchmaking world. The very luxurious timepieces are of high quality and therefore often raise record amounts at auctions. A pocket watch produced in 1933 was sold for 11 million in 1999 at an auction of Sotheby’s. A world record at that time. On 11 November 2014 it was auctioned again and this time it was sold for 19 million euros.