We love stories like this and seeing the reaction of the person when they found out the value of their timepiece. It is still possible that many rare pieces are still lying in safe keeping, with their owners not knowing the significance of what they have in their safe or drawer. It was sold with its original box, which still contained two spare crystals and two spare springs. Previously unaware of its significance, the great- grandson subsequently consigned it to a Sotheby’s auction in May 2006, where it trebled expectations to fetch CHF1.86 million. The whereabouts of this historically important watch remained unknown for decades until it was brought to a specialist on the American version of the Antiques Roadshow for appraisal in June 2004 by Thompson’s great grandson, who had inherited it.
The watch also includes a minute repeater mechanism and, unusually, both the front and back bezels of its massive 54mm diameter case are engine-turned. The front features a conventional time display with a split seconds chronograph, a 30-minute register and constant subsidiary seconds, while the reverse incorporates the perpetual calendar dials showing the day, month, date and phases of the moon, each one exquisitely decorated in red enamel for maximum clarity.
Thompson’s success in business enabled him to commission Patek Philippe to make this exceptional, double-dialled watch. Paul, Minnesota, eventually becoming its editor and owner. Changing to a career in journalism, he took a position with the St. Thompson, who was born in the English county of Devon in 1840, began his working life as a financier but the bank he worked for collapsed during the 1870s, prompting him to move to America. The story of the rediscovery of George Thompson’s unique, grand complication timepiece is almost as extraordinary as the watch itself. Information from the Patek Philippe website on the man who commissioned the timepiece and details of the watch: 174 480) resides at the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. The watch ended up selling at auction in 2006 for CHF1.86 million! In 1844, Patek had occasion to meet a young French watchmaker, Adrien Philippe, who was the inventor of the keyless winding mechanism.
.jpg "patek philippe pocket watch")
He gave it a valuation on the show of $250,000. The Antiques Roadshow appraiser asked the gentleman if he ever had the watch appraised previously and it highlights the importance of seeking a second opinion. The minute repeater slide on the Patek Philippe George Thompson Pocket watch.
0 kommentar(er)
