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Lot Essay
An extreme rarity and in excellent original condition, the present highly complicated minute repeating watch is offered to the market after almost 20 years in one of the world’s greatest watch collections. Its classically styled sigma dial with gold indexes is enhanced not only by the 24-hour, leap year cycle and subsidiary seconds indications but also the incredibly rare complication of equation of time.
The present watch is thought to be the only known example of the reference 880 with equation of time function. This exceptional timepiece gives the opportunity for all collectors and connoisseurs to own a part of Patek Philippe’s traditional watchmaking history.
Patek Philippe made only a very small number of watches with equation of time function. The present eample, movement no. 866’569, was sold to the highly prestigious retailer Chronometrie Beyer of Zürich and is thought to be unique among reference 880 in having an equation of time function.
At any given moment, so-called mean solar time deviates by a few minutes from true, or apparent, solar time. This difference is referred to as the equation of time. It varies from day to day and in mechanical watches can be displayed with the aid of a highly complex cam mechanism, in the present watch the indication is placed below the moon phase aperture.
Incredibly rare, a total of only eleven Patek Philippe pocket watches including the Graves ‘Supercomplication’ are believed to exist with equation of time feature.
Chronometrie Beyer Zürich
Since its foundation in 1760, the prestigious firm has always been passed down from father to son, each a fully trained watchmaker. Beyer Chronometrie was the first shop in Switzerland specializing exclusively in watches, clocks and jewellery. The firm is currently managed by René Beyer who represents the eighth generation of the Beyer family.
The company also owns the renowned Clock and Watch Museum Beyer Zurich, one of the world's most important horological collections. It comprises some 500 pieces dating from 1400 BC to the present day.
Equation of Time
For a watch with an equation mechanism, an indication of the date is always required because the equation varies continuously throughout the year. This information is useful when setting a watch to time given by a sundial. By adding or subtracting the equation for the day, as indicated by the hand, the sundial time could be corrected to mean time.
The equation of time in astronomy is the quantity that needs to be added or subtracted to switch from real time given by the sun, to the mean time; our time, which arbitrarily divided a day in 24 hours. The equation of time varies from one day to another, its value swings between around -16 to +16 seconds per day. By cumulating these differences, we obtain a variation between the real noon and the mean noon of more or less 15 minutes. The most important differences are, function of the years, toward February 12 (+14 minutes and 59 seconds) and November 3 (-16 minutes and 15 seconds). The difference is zero toward April 15, June 15, September 1 and December 24. It should be known that today, due to the summer time and the winter time, we live with a difference of two or three hours relative to the sun; our daily noon corresponding to the solar noon of Central Europe.
The equation of time also gives information about the equinoxes of spring (21 - 22 March) and autumn (22 - 23 September), as well as the solstices of summer (toward 21 June 21) and winter (toward 21 December). The equinox is the moment when the sun is on the plane of the equator, thus leading to days equal to nights. The solstice is the moment when the sun is in the farthest position from the equator, resulting in the longest day and the longest night. These dates determine the seasons of the year.
The present watch is thought to be the only known example of the reference 880 with equation of time function. This exceptional timepiece gives the opportunity for all collectors and connoisseurs to own a part of Patek Philippe’s traditional watchmaking history.
Patek Philippe made only a very small number of watches with equation of time function. The present eample, movement no. 866’569, was sold to the highly prestigious retailer Chronometrie Beyer of Zürich and is thought to be unique among reference 880 in having an equation of time function.
At any given moment, so-called mean solar time deviates by a few minutes from true, or apparent, solar time. This difference is referred to as the equation of time. It varies from day to day and in mechanical watches can be displayed with the aid of a highly complex cam mechanism, in the present watch the indication is placed below the moon phase aperture.
Incredibly rare, a total of only eleven Patek Philippe pocket watches including the Graves ‘Supercomplication’ are believed to exist with equation of time feature.
Chronometrie Beyer Zürich
Since its foundation in 1760, the prestigious firm has always been passed down from father to son, each a fully trained watchmaker. Beyer Chronometrie was the first shop in Switzerland specializing exclusively in watches, clocks and jewellery. The firm is currently managed by René Beyer who represents the eighth generation of the Beyer family.
The company also owns the renowned Clock and Watch Museum Beyer Zurich, one of the world's most important horological collections. It comprises some 500 pieces dating from 1400 BC to the present day.
Equation of Time
For a watch with an equation mechanism, an indication of the date is always required because the equation varies continuously throughout the year. This information is useful when setting a watch to time given by a sundial. By adding or subtracting the equation for the day, as indicated by the hand, the sundial time could be corrected to mean time.
The equation of time in astronomy is the quantity that needs to be added or subtracted to switch from real time given by the sun, to the mean time; our time, which arbitrarily divided a day in 24 hours. The equation of time varies from one day to another, its value swings between around -16 to +16 seconds per day. By cumulating these differences, we obtain a variation between the real noon and the mean noon of more or less 15 minutes. The most important differences are, function of the years, toward February 12 (+14 minutes and 59 seconds) and November 3 (-16 minutes and 15 seconds). The difference is zero toward April 15, June 15, September 1 and December 24. It should be known that today, due to the summer time and the winter time, we live with a difference of two or three hours relative to the sun; our daily noon corresponding to the solar noon of Central Europe.
The equation of time also gives information about the equinoxes of spring (21 - 22 March) and autumn (22 - 23 September), as well as the solstices of summer (toward 21 June 21) and winter (toward 21 December). The equinox is the moment when the sun is on the plane of the equator, thus leading to days equal to nights. The solstice is the moment when the sun is in the farthest position from the equator, resulting in the longest day and the longest night. These dates determine the seasons of the year.