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Lot Essay
A great rarity, the present watch is, to the best of our knowledge, the only publicly known Patek Philippe minute repeater pocket watch retailed by Cartier and bearing the Cartier signature. It was acquired by the present owner from the great-grandson of the original owner in Hungary. The original owner, Dr. Janos Kossalka (1872-1944) was a structural engineer and university professor with a specialization in the construction of bridges. For a quarter of a century, between 1916 and 1941, he was the professor at the department of Bridge Architecture No. 1 at Budapest University. He was awarded a Gold Medal by the Engineering Society in 1921.
Only a handful of Patek Philippe complicated watches are known to have been retailed by Cartier. The present minute repeater is thought to be unique among them. The beautiful silvered dial with applied yellow gold Breguet numerals and pearled minute markers has a hard engraved enamelled Patek Philippe & Cie signature and correct printed Cartier signature. Like the present watch, timepieces retailed by Cartier were not only signed ‘Cartier’ on the dial but also punched with Cartier’s number on the back of the pendant, hence they became ‘official’ Cartier merchandise.
The movement of the present watch is engraved ‘HOX’, the import code used by Patek Philippe for watches imported into the United States. Moreover, the accompanying yellow and white gold chain is US standard 14k gold. It is therefore most probable that the present watch was retailed through Cartier’s prestigious New York store.
Naturally only the best Swiss manufacturers like Patek Philippe could produce watches with highly sophisticated complications such as minute repeating, chronographs and calendars. Therefore when a Cartier client required a superb quality complicated watch that was beyond the scope of the Cartier-owned European Watch & Clock Co., the company bought watches from the best Swiss manufacturers such as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron & Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre. Such watches were then additionally signed and in many cases numbered by Cartier thus adding a further level of cachet. It is not surprising that watches bought from other manufacturers and retailed by Cartier were carefully chosen so that their design still fitted with the Cartier brand. The present watch is a great example of this philosophy, instantly recognizable as both a superb product of Patek Philippe whilst at the same time exuding Cartier’s unmistakable style, quality and elegance – that ‘Cartier magic’.
Only a handful of Patek Philippe complicated watches are known to have been retailed by Cartier. The present minute repeater is thought to be unique among them. The beautiful silvered dial with applied yellow gold Breguet numerals and pearled minute markers has a hard engraved enamelled Patek Philippe & Cie signature and correct printed Cartier signature. Like the present watch, timepieces retailed by Cartier were not only signed ‘Cartier’ on the dial but also punched with Cartier’s number on the back of the pendant, hence they became ‘official’ Cartier merchandise.
The movement of the present watch is engraved ‘HOX’, the import code used by Patek Philippe for watches imported into the United States. Moreover, the accompanying yellow and white gold chain is US standard 14k gold. It is therefore most probable that the present watch was retailed through Cartier’s prestigious New York store.
Naturally only the best Swiss manufacturers like Patek Philippe could produce watches with highly sophisticated complications such as minute repeating, chronographs and calendars. Therefore when a Cartier client required a superb quality complicated watch that was beyond the scope of the Cartier-owned European Watch & Clock Co., the company bought watches from the best Swiss manufacturers such as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Vacheron & Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre. Such watches were then additionally signed and in many cases numbered by Cartier thus adding a further level of cachet. It is not surprising that watches bought from other manufacturers and retailed by Cartier were carefully chosen so that their design still fitted with the Cartier brand. The present watch is a great example of this philosophy, instantly recognizable as both a superb product of Patek Philippe whilst at the same time exuding Cartier’s unmistakable style, quality and elegance – that ‘Cartier magic’.