Repeating dress watch with up and down indicator Circa 1918

Gold open faced key less lever repeater by Patek Philippe
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An extremely fine and unique Swiss 18 carat gold open faced minute repeating keyless lever dress watch with up and down indicator, circa 1918. Nickel finished lever movement, 29 jewels, wolf’s tooth winding, bi metallic compensation balance, minute repeating by two polished steel hammers onto two gongs activated by a slide in the band. Gold dial with engine turned center, Roman numerals, subsidiary seconds dial combined with the up and down indication. Finely chased case, the back lid centered by a chased monogram ‘JWP’ and inscribed on the interior Fabriqué pour James Ward Packard, Warren, Ohio, 1919, PAR PATEK PHILIPPE & CIE. GENÈVE, SUISSE. Case, bow, dial and movement signed. Comes with the original box and a certificate.
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Diameter: 47 mm
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Signed: Patek, Philippe & Co Geneva-Switzerland
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Since the company’s founding in 1839 Patek Philippe has always stood for quality, craftsmanship, precision and style. It is to no surprise that this great firm’s history is interwoven with the lives of Kings and Queens, Statesman, businessman, scientists, and famous artists. Patek Philippe’s clients have included Queen Victoria, King Umberto II, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Richard Wagner, Duke Ellington, Henry Graves Jr. and James Ward Packard.
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According to research this watch is one of 17 watches made specifically for James Ward Packard incorporating his own particular specifications. Minute repeaters with power reserve are extremely rare and the present example with Murat style case decoration is the only known example. James Ward Packard’s Patek Philippe collection was comprised of very different watches all unique in their complications and decoration. Masterpieces such as the large minute repeating watch with musical alarm, sold to Packard in 1927 for 8,300 Swiss Francs, and the Grand Complication, sold to Packard in April of the same year for 12,815 Francs, are just two highlights from one of the world’s most renowned watch enthusiasts.
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The known watches made specifically for Packard and the only watches of their kind are as follows:

No. 125009: Clockwatch with perpetual calendar, chronograph with 60-minute register made in 1905. This is the first known watch to have been sold to Mr. Packard and is illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 242-243.

No. 138227: Minute repeating pocketwatch converted into a wristwatch in 1931.

No. 157392: Pocketwatch with chronograph made in 1912.

No 174129: The most complicated watch of its time with perpetual calendar, moon phases, split-seconds, jumping seconds, grande and petite sonnerie clockwatch, minute repeating, up-and-down chronograph and double power reserve made in 1916. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 248-249.

No. 174623: Two train pocketwatch with eight-day power reserve, equation of time, time of sunset-sunrise perpetual calendar clockwatch made in 1917. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 206-207.

No. 187679: Cushion-form wristwatch with enamel dial made in 1918.

No. 174720: Minute repeating pocket chronometer with tourbillon made in 1919. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 180-181.

No. 174876: Clockwatch with carillon and power reserve made in 1920. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 240-241.

No. 174907: Minute repeating pocketwatch with up-and-down indicator made in 1920 (The present watch).

No. 190757: Dual time pocket watch made in 1920. Sold Christie’s New York, June 2004.

No. 197707: Eight-day perpetual calendar desk timepiece with power reserve made in 1923. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 72-73.

No. 197791: Clockwatch with carillon made in 1924. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 240-241.

No. 174749: Clockwatch with perpetual calendar, Westminster carillon and double power reserve made in 1925. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 242-243.

No. 197505: Clockwatch with perpetual calendar and double power reserve made in 1925.

No. 198014: Musical alarm pocketwatch made in 1927. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 252-253.

No. 198023: Double dialled minute repeating carillon pocket watch with equation of time and sky chart made in 1927. Illustrated in Patek Philippe by M. Huber and A. Banbury, 1998, pp. 224-225.
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The present watch, a gold open faced watch with minute repeater, up and down indicator, Murat style case, original presentation box, original certificate, spare crystal (still wrapped in the original paper with the case number in pencil hand inscribed on the outside) and two spare main springs was delivered to James Ward Packard on April 22nd of 1920. The watch is in impeccable condition and has seldom been used at all during its life.