98 Patek Philippe A supremely rare, very attractive and highly important, openface world time pocket watch in yellow gold, "North America" polychrome cloisonné enamel dial, with Extract from the Archives and Mr. Tortella & Sons "Deep-Study" Documentation, reference 605HU.
Estimate: € 400.000 – 800.000
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- Model Enamel World Time
- Year 1948
- Reference 605HU
- Case Material 18K yellow gold
- Case Number 654'940
- Movement Manual, cal. 17'170 HU, 18 jewels
- Movement Number 930'873
- Dimension 45mm Diameter
- Signed Case, dial and movement
- Accessories Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present timepiece in 1948 and its subsequent sale on November 9th 1953 and Mr. Tortella & Sons "Deep-Study" Documentation.
- Literature This specific watch was previously sold at: Sotheby's New York "Watches, Wristwatches and Clocks" auction June 19th 2001, as lot 395; Antiquorum Geneva "Important Collector - Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks" auction April 2nd 2006, as lot 450 for CHF 123,750.
If one were to distill Patek Philippe into three pillars—perpetual calendar chronographs, minute repeaters, and World Time—the present reference 605 HU belongs to the most poetic of them, conceived in the late 1930s with Louis Cottier and later elevated through cloisonné enamel artistry. Production of the reference 605 HU, Heures Universelles, began in 1937 and continued, in very small numbers, until the late 1960s. Between 1938 and 1964, approximately 88 examples were made, of which 62 were cased in yellow gold and 26 in pink gold. The vast majority were fitted with metal dials. Only a minute fraction received cloisonné enamel dials, each executed individually and under the direct supervision of Louis Cottier himself. Today, scholarship suggests that only around a dozen reference 605 HU examples with cloisonné dials survive, a number that alone places the present watch in the rarefied air of the truly exceptional. This particular masterpiece, depicting North America with the charming addition of a palm tree, a detail absent on comparable wristwatch versions, belongs to an even more exclusive subset. Only four examples illustrating North America in this configuration are known. Four. In the universe of Patek Philippe, that is not rarity, it is mythology. The World Time system itself is disarmingly elegant. The city corresponding to the desired local time is positioned at 12 o’clock, and instantly the 24-hour ring reveals the correct hour across the globe. The signature Louis Cottier hands sweep across the dial. The cloisonné dial itself is nothing short of a miniature masterpiece. Crafted by Stern Frères and likely executed by celebrated enamelists such as Nelly Richard or Marguerite Koch, the process required painstaking precision. Cloisonné enamel World Time watches from this era represent the perfect confluence of technical ingenuity and decorative artistry.
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