.jpg?maxwidth=3840)
Lot 4746
PATEK PHILIPPE. A VERY FINE, RARE AND IMPORTANT 18K GOLD MINUTE REPEATING TOURBILLON WRISTWATCH WITH ENAMEL DIAL AND BREGUET NUMERALS
SIGNED PATEK PHILIPPE, REF. 3939, MOVEMENT NO. 1'903'006, CASE NO. 2'906'862, MANUFACTURED IN 1993
Closed30 May 2012
Price Realised
HKD 2,660,000
More Information
Specialist note
US$200,000-300,000
With Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming presentation of the present watch with white enamel dial and 11 Breguet hour markers in yellow gold in 1993 and its subsequent sale on 22 June 1993. Furthermore delivered with a fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
Fresh to the market, the present reference 3939 has never been offered at auction before and is preserved in excellent overall condition.
The minute repeater was believed to have been invented in the mid-1680s by an Englishman called Daniel Quare. Before the days of electricity, it allowed the wearer to tell the time in the dark. In this age of technology, minute repeaters still involve an exacting level of craftsmanship, it is often said that the maker of a minute repeater requires the ear of a musician and the hand of a surgeon.
One of the most elegant and subtle of the Patek Philippe grand complication timepieces, Reference 3939 unites the sonorous charms of a two-gong minute repeater with the gravity-defying precision of a tourbillon escapement. In keeping with its eternal style, reference 3939 ignores the contemporary trend for larger dials, measuring 33 mm. in diameter, an achievement for such a technically sophisticated timepiece. This is also one of the very few Patek Philippe references to feature an enamel dial blessed with Breguet-style numerals.
With Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming presentation of the present watch with white enamel dial and 11 Breguet hour markers in yellow gold in 1993 and its subsequent sale on 22 June 1993. Furthermore delivered with a fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
Fresh to the market, the present reference 3939 has never been offered at auction before and is preserved in excellent overall condition.
The minute repeater was believed to have been invented in the mid-1680s by an Englishman called Daniel Quare. Before the days of electricity, it allowed the wearer to tell the time in the dark. In this age of technology, minute repeaters still involve an exacting level of craftsmanship, it is often said that the maker of a minute repeater requires the ear of a musician and the hand of a surgeon.
One of the most elegant and subtle of the Patek Philippe grand complication timepieces, Reference 3939 unites the sonorous charms of a two-gong minute repeater with the gravity-defying precision of a tourbillon escapement. In keeping with its eternal style, reference 3939 ignores the contemporary trend for larger dials, measuring 33 mm. in diameter, an achievement for such a technically sophisticated timepiece. This is also one of the very few Patek Philippe references to feature an enamel dial blessed with Breguet-style numerals.