Patek Phillippe Watch & Fob, ca. 1906
Watch
GUEST:
My father purchased it through a gentleman that was in dire straits: his boss. My dad's condition was the only way he would buy it is if he could sell it back to the family. The gentleman passed away, my father passed away, my mother tried to give it back to the family, and the family could not afford to buy it back, so my mother kept it. Then I inherited it after she passed away.
APPRAISER:
The watch was made by Patek Philippe. Patek Philippe is the preeminent watchmaker in the world. It's in the original box, and the box is signed by Patek Philippe, and around the name are all various medals that they had won. The watch is mammoth in size, much, much larger than almost any pocket watches from the time period. This was made, say, 1905, 1906. During the early 1900s, most of the watches were literally half of this size, so the first great thing about it is it's monstrous. The next, it's made out of 18-karat gold. The watch is great because it's signed everywhere. It's signed "Patek Philippe" on the dial. It also has the name of the jeweler. Now, the jeweler is from Rio de Janeiro.
GUEST:
Correct.
APPRAISER:
I'm going to show you on the inside of the watch... the beautiful engraving where it talks about how Patek Philippe made the watch especially for the jeweler in Rio de Janeiro, and how it's all signed by Patek Philippe. It's also a chronometer with a 30-minute registry.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
There's a safety feature built in, which is right here. It's a little slide. That slide, when it moves forward, would stop you from depressing the plunger to use the chronograph.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The fob is also made of 18-karat gold. It was made right around the same time period: early 1900s.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It was made in the style of jewelry done in France during the time, but made in Rio, it has no signatures to it. It has incredibly carved griffiths, serpents, there's platinum, there's small emeralds. It is absolutely a work of art. In today's retail market, a watch like this, complete with the box, would be somewhere around $35,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The fob would easily run in the $10,000 price range, retail. So combined total, you have about $45,000 that your dad purchased from his colleague.
GUEST:
Absolutely awesome. I thought it was about 50, but 35's good. Actually, 45.
APPRAISER:
Congratulations, it's a magnificent watch.
GUEST:
Thank you.
Appraisal Details
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