Swiss platinum open faced minute repeating lever Circa 1922

Platinum lever minute repeater by Patek Philippe
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A fine and rare Swiss platinum open faced minute repeating keyless lever watch, circa 1922. Nickel finished lever movement, 29 jewels, bimetallic compensation balance, wolf’s tooth winding, minute repeating on two hammers onto two gongs. Silvered dial, Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds. Case with snap on back with chased and engraved initials ‘MJA’, repeating slide in the band. Case, dial and movement signed.
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Diameter: 46 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.