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Lot Essay
With Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch with enamel dial and Breguet numerals in 1928 and its subsequent sale on 3rd December 1928. Furthermore delivered with Patek Philippe vintage presentation box. To the best of our knowledge, this watch has never been offered in public before.
Based on the engraved inscription on the cuvette, the present watch formerly belonged to Thomas Emery; interestingly upon close inspection the engraved initials on the case back originally read "TE" in a lozenge and have been modified to the present "JB". An 18K gold openface keyless lever tourbillon watch with Guillaume balance, Bulletin d'Observatoire and blue Breguet numerals, especially made for Thomas Emery by Patek Philippe, bearing the same blue enamel initials "TE" in a lozenge was sold in this saleroom on 17 November 2008, lot 271.
Little information is available on Thomas Emery but he doubtlessly was a connoisseur of the fine and rare, impressively proven not only by the present timepiece sold to him in 1930: Thomas Emery also was granted the exceptional honour of receiving Patek Philippe's very first wristwatch fitted with a perpetual calendar in 1927, prominently described and illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 280. According to the workbooks of Patek Philippe, the watch was sold to Thomas Emery on 13 October 1927 and taken back on 24 September 1951. It is today on permanent exhibition at Patek Philippe's prestigious museum in Geneva.
It can be assumed that Thomas Emery was a member of the famous Emery family of Cincinnati, Ohio, industrialists, real estate developers and philanthropists. His father John Josiah Emery (1898-1976) owned houses in New York City (5 East 68th Street), Bar Harbour, Maine (The Turrets, now owned by The College of the Atlantic), Palm Beach, Paris and, most importantly, Biarritz, France.
Coincidently, James Packard, famous collector of cars and most notably watches made by special order by Patek Philippe, also originates from Ohio.
Based on the engraved inscription on the cuvette, the present watch formerly belonged to Thomas Emery; interestingly upon close inspection the engraved initials on the case back originally read "TE" in a lozenge and have been modified to the present "JB". An 18K gold openface keyless lever tourbillon watch with Guillaume balance, Bulletin d'Observatoire and blue Breguet numerals, especially made for Thomas Emery by Patek Philippe, bearing the same blue enamel initials "TE" in a lozenge was sold in this saleroom on 17 November 2008, lot 271.
Little information is available on Thomas Emery but he doubtlessly was a connoisseur of the fine and rare, impressively proven not only by the present timepiece sold to him in 1930: Thomas Emery also was granted the exceptional honour of receiving Patek Philippe's very first wristwatch fitted with a perpetual calendar in 1927, prominently described and illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 280. According to the workbooks of Patek Philippe, the watch was sold to Thomas Emery on 13 October 1927 and taken back on 24 September 1951. It is today on permanent exhibition at Patek Philippe's prestigious museum in Geneva.
It can be assumed that Thomas Emery was a member of the famous Emery family of Cincinnati, Ohio, industrialists, real estate developers and philanthropists. His father John Josiah Emery (1898-1976) owned houses in New York City (5 East 68th Street), Bar Harbour, Maine (The Turrets, now owned by The College of the Atlantic), Palm Beach, Paris and, most importantly, Biarritz, France.
Coincidently, James Packard, famous collector of cars and most notably watches made by special order by Patek Philippe, also originates from Ohio.