Beschreibung:

Patek Philippe Follow Ref. 605 HU DE A highly important and extremely rare yellow gold open face world time pocketwatch with "World Map" polychrome cloisonné enamel dial 1948 45mm Diameter Case, dial and movement signed by maker, enamel dial signed by Louis Cottier
Manufacturer : Patek Philippe Year : 1948 Reference No : 605 HU DE Movement No : 930'837, enamel dial stamped "930837" to the back Case No : 654'936, bezel stamped "936" to the back Model Name : Worldtime Material : 18K yellow gold Calibre : Manual, cal. 17'''170HU, 18 jewels Dimensions : 45mm Diameter Signed : Case, dial and movement signed by maker, enamel dial signed by Louis Cottier Accessories : Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch in 1948 and its subsequent sale on May 26, 1956 Catalogue Essay Some timepieces posses such an allure of rarity, attractiveness, and technical interest that they have become near-mythical objects of desire for the most discerning and demanding watch collectors on earth. Patek Philippe enameled world time pieces undoubtedly belong in this category. World time watches were serially produced by Patek Philippe from the late 1930s to the 1950s (and then again in modern form from 2000 onward). Disregarding prototype series (such as reference 1416) and piece unique watches (such as “The Doctor’s” world time chronograph or the rectangular-shaped world time watch), three references mainly represent the vintage world time production of the brand: wrist references 1415 and 2523 (and its evolution 2523-1), and the present pocket reference 605 HU, all of them made under the absolute supervision of watchmaker Louis Cottier, inventor of the world time system. In 1937, Cottier submitted to the company a first offer for a 17’’’ world time movement, and he would eventually create less than 100 movements, most of them cased in reference 605. The model was originally offered with a silver (sometimes champagne or pink) dial, but it was a commercial flop due to the combination of the downhill trend of pocket watches in then-current fashion and the novelty of the world time system, which was met with lukewarm enthusiasm by Patek Philippe clients. This is why it is very common to see years passing between the production date of a 605 HU and its sale: in this case for example, the watch was manufactured in 1948 but sold nearly a decade later, in 1956. Such a low demand is probably what prompted Patek Philippe to offer a new and more luxurious dial option: the celebrated polychrome cloisonné enamel dial, available from the late 1940s. The new option, however, did not truly help to overturn the poor commercial performance of the model, which could also be explained by the complicated production process leading to a very slow production rate, thus it was physically impossible to achieve high volumes. Furthermore, the presence of a cloisonné dial commanded an enormous increase of price: when a standard pocket watch of similar size to ref. 605 was at the time retailing for about 870 CHF, reference 605 HU cloisonné was being sold for a whopping 2’250 CHF; while part of the price increase was due to the complicated movement, most of it was due to the dial. As a result, such watches were made in extremely restricted numbers, with around ten pieces publicly known today. The offer spaced from the traditional geographic maps to more unusual subjects, such as the “Neptune" or the “Compass". The World Map here exemplified is an exceedingly rare design, with only another example known to the market. It appears that some examples of reference 605 which were born with a metal dial were later upgraded to the enamel version. Such is the case of the present watch: while the Patek Philippe Extract does not bear mention of the enamel dial, the presence of the movement number stamped to the back of the enamel disc indisputably links dial and watch together, the only conclusion being that this was an upgrade made by the manufacturer. Interestingly, a similar situation is known in regard to another reference 605, bearing movement number 930’838: the immediate next movement. An educated guess suggests the presence of a batch of standard-dial pieces which was upgraded with the cloiso