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拍品专文
Very few Patek Philippe watches are designated “Extra” and even fewer “Extra Special”, the present watch is one of those rarified pieces. Only superb watches of the highest chronometer standard were inscribed this way. The movement with ébauche probably by LeCoultre & Cie and Victorin Piguet & Cie was made specifically with the aim of achieving the highest precision possible, hence the use of a Guillaume balance with gold and platinum timing and temperature adjustment screws. Furthermore, this watch was personally adjusted by the master régleur C. Batifolier who was famous for his many successes at the observatory chronometer trials. No less than eight lever chronometers in the collection of the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva are Observatory prize-winning watches adjusted by Batifolier. The régleurs or adjusters were the highest paid workers in the watch industry because success in Observatory trials directly conferred reputation and prestige on the brand and therefore greater commercial success.
According to the Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives, the present watch was awarded special mention during the chronometer pocket watch contests in 1913 and 1914. Furthermore, the registers of the Geneva Observatory confirm that this watch obtained 3rd Prize at the chronometer contest of 1915 with 751 points out of a total of 1000. The chronometer no. 162'767, the present watch, was rated 27th out of the 89 watches tested.
Patek Philippe movements when destined for participation in Observatory Timing Contests were, like the present watch, engraved with the movement number twice. The inscription "Extra Special" on the bridge of the movement refers to the very high finishing of all the parts of the movement and the use of the Guillaume balance with gold and platinum screws and diamond endstone.
It is most unusual for such a highly-finished precision watch by Patek Philippe to bear only the name of the retailer on the dial. However, Bailey, Banks and Biddle of Philadelphia were rather an important agent of Patek Philippe, by the 1880s the company was second only to Tiffany & Co. in the U.S. The original buyer of the present watch, Daniel Holsman, a public figure in Philadelphia, perhaps requested a watch that was a proven precision timekeeper, what better than a Patek Philippe prize-winning Observatory chronometer.
Daniel Holsman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is mentioned in the Journal of the Senate on 18th January 1881 upon his appointment as a Public Notary.
A very similar watch is in the Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva. See: Patek Philippe Watches Vo.II, Patek Philippe Museum 2013, p. 32.
According to the Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives, the present watch was awarded special mention during the chronometer pocket watch contests in 1913 and 1914. Furthermore, the registers of the Geneva Observatory confirm that this watch obtained 3rd Prize at the chronometer contest of 1915 with 751 points out of a total of 1000. The chronometer no. 162'767, the present watch, was rated 27th out of the 89 watches tested.
Patek Philippe movements when destined for participation in Observatory Timing Contests were, like the present watch, engraved with the movement number twice. The inscription "Extra Special" on the bridge of the movement refers to the very high finishing of all the parts of the movement and the use of the Guillaume balance with gold and platinum screws and diamond endstone.
It is most unusual for such a highly-finished precision watch by Patek Philippe to bear only the name of the retailer on the dial. However, Bailey, Banks and Biddle of Philadelphia were rather an important agent of Patek Philippe, by the 1880s the company was second only to Tiffany & Co. in the U.S. The original buyer of the present watch, Daniel Holsman, a public figure in Philadelphia, perhaps requested a watch that was a proven precision timekeeper, what better than a Patek Philippe prize-winning Observatory chronometer.
Daniel Holsman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is mentioned in the Journal of the Senate on 18th January 1881 upon his appointment as a Public Notary.
A very similar watch is in the Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva. See: Patek Philippe Watches Vo.II, Patek Philippe Museum 2013, p. 32.