Patek Philippe

Patek Philippe "Lépine Complication"

Category Wristwatches / Pocket Watches Item Description 56mm / 18k Gold / Manual Winding / 1896 / 158g / Working. Complicated, heavy Lépine pocket watch by Patek Philippe with perpetual calendar and minute repeater. Day and month displayed in Cyrillic script. Well-preserved gilt movement (grained), signed "Patek, Phillipe et Cie / Genève" with wolf's-tooth winding wheels, compensated balance with Breguet overcoil, pallet fork with counterweight in the shape of cockchafer antennae, movement number: 97'738. Case number: 220'323. Signature on the inside cover: "A. Ericsson / St. Petersbourg". August Ericsson was a purveyor to the court in St. Petersburg from 1865 to 1915. Only the high nobility could afford such a complicated watch! With original box and extract from the archives. Enclosed is a description in an unknown hand. The watch was offered at the "Habsburg / Antiquorum" auction, October 14, 1990, in Geneva (lot 93, estimated price 160,000 - 180,000). Notes: The repeater strikes accurately and cleanly. The day-of-the-week display does not change. Fine hairline cracks are present in the day-of-the-week subdial and on the edge at 9 o'clock (not visible when the case back is closed). There is a small chip on the lip of the outer case back. Our Patek Philippe with perpetual calendar was delivered to Russia by the Swedish dealer Ericsson; it is appropriately equipped with a Cyrillic calendar. August Ericsson was a purveyor to the Imperial Court in St. Petersburg from 1865 to 1915. He supplied only watches from the finest manufacturers. However, the Patek Philippe with perpetual calendar and minute repeater was certainly not an everyday item for him; there was only a very limited circle of buyers for such an expensive watch. Ericsson will have found him in the Russian high nobility, if not in the Tsar's family itself.