Swiss 18 carat white gold open faced lever watch Circa 1926

White gold lever by Patek Philippe
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A Swiss 18 carat white gold open faced keyless lever watch, circa 1926. Lever movement, 18 jewels, bimetallic compensation balance, micrometer regulator, wolf’s tooth winding. Hinged white gold cuvette. Silvered matte dial, applied white gold Arabic numerals and beady minute divisions. Plain case, snap on back engraved with initials. Case, dial and movement signed.
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Diameter: 45 mm
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Signed: Patek, Philippe & Cie Geneva, Switzerland
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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.
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The company has 70 patents and produces the entire clockwork in-house.
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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.