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Lot Essay
With Patek Philippe Certificate of Origin stamped by Salons Patek Philippe Genève dated 14 May 2014 within a large leather portfolio containing information and images of reference 5959. Furthermore delivered with leather pouch, product literature, sale tag, service box, wooden presentation box and outer packaging.
To the best of our knowledge, this watch has never been offered at auction before and is believed to be one of only twelve examples of this reference with white dial to have appeared in public to date.
Reference 5959 is one the modern Patek Philippe models which best preserves the DNA and heritage of the revered Genevoise house. In fact, a practically unique case in the history of Patek Philippe, it is a virtually exact replica of a vintage model, specifically the first split second chronograph wristwatch ever produced by Patek Philippe (movement no. 124'824). The only differences are the modern signature, the co-axial button in the crown, the snap on back instead of hinged, and the platinum case instead of yellow gold. Introduced in 2005 with white dial, it is since 2008 available with black dial as well. One of the scarcest modern models by Patek Philippe, its estimated total output until now is of a few dozen pieces. In order to be granted one example by the company, collectors have to make an application and pass an extremely strict selection based on their horological interests, present collection, and collecting criteria.
This modern tribute to Patek Philippe heritage is a masterpiece of design. Exuding elegance, practicality, masculinity and supreme balance, it is the archetypical officier-style watch. The 33 mm. case features the telltale extended lugs with screw bars and an old-school oversized crown (updated with in-line chronograph pusher). The dial is distinguished by its supreme readability. The generously-sized Breguet numerals offer extremely good contrast with the white lacquered background; the 60 minutes register has Arabic five minutes divisions, a choice which offers high precision of indication without excessively encumbering of the overall design.
While this model is, under an aesthetical point of view, a champion of vintage-style understated elegance, under a technological point of view it offers one of the most advanced movements available on the market. An extremely difficult complication to master, the split-second single-button chronograph is one of the most daunting-to-realize movements. As a matter of fact, even just a decade ago specialized calibre manufacturers supplied most watchmaking brands (including Patek Philippe) with calibres which would then be finished and modified more or less heavily. This was common practice throughout the entire 20th century, and it was due to many economic, technologic and cultural factors. In the case of split second chronograph, one of these factors was that watch brands found it so difficult to develop such a movement that they would rather source it from specialized companies. However, pushed by competition and possibly by more than a little bit of pride, many manufacturers recently developed in house calibres. Calibre 27-525 PS is undoubtedly one of the most successful of such efforts. Beating 21'600 times per hour, hour, it sports an unbelievable 5.25 mm. thickness: it was at the time of its inception the thinnest manually-wound split seconds calibre ever developed. It is stamped with the Patek Philippe seal, launched by the company in 2010 and demanding even stricter requirements than the famed Geneva seal, most notably an accuracy of -3/+2 seconds per day for calibres above 20 mm. in diameter.
To the best of our knowledge, this watch has never been offered at auction before and is believed to be one of only twelve examples of this reference with white dial to have appeared in public to date.
Reference 5959 is one the modern Patek Philippe models which best preserves the DNA and heritage of the revered Genevoise house. In fact, a practically unique case in the history of Patek Philippe, it is a virtually exact replica of a vintage model, specifically the first split second chronograph wristwatch ever produced by Patek Philippe (movement no. 124'824). The only differences are the modern signature, the co-axial button in the crown, the snap on back instead of hinged, and the platinum case instead of yellow gold. Introduced in 2005 with white dial, it is since 2008 available with black dial as well. One of the scarcest modern models by Patek Philippe, its estimated total output until now is of a few dozen pieces. In order to be granted one example by the company, collectors have to make an application and pass an extremely strict selection based on their horological interests, present collection, and collecting criteria.
This modern tribute to Patek Philippe heritage is a masterpiece of design. Exuding elegance, practicality, masculinity and supreme balance, it is the archetypical officier-style watch. The 33 mm. case features the telltale extended lugs with screw bars and an old-school oversized crown (updated with in-line chronograph pusher). The dial is distinguished by its supreme readability. The generously-sized Breguet numerals offer extremely good contrast with the white lacquered background; the 60 minutes register has Arabic five minutes divisions, a choice which offers high precision of indication without excessively encumbering of the overall design.
While this model is, under an aesthetical point of view, a champion of vintage-style understated elegance, under a technological point of view it offers one of the most advanced movements available on the market. An extremely difficult complication to master, the split-second single-button chronograph is one of the most daunting-to-realize movements. As a matter of fact, even just a decade ago specialized calibre manufacturers supplied most watchmaking brands (including Patek Philippe) with calibres which would then be finished and modified more or less heavily. This was common practice throughout the entire 20th century, and it was due to many economic, technologic and cultural factors. In the case of split second chronograph, one of these factors was that watch brands found it so difficult to develop such a movement that they would rather source it from specialized companies. However, pushed by competition and possibly by more than a little bit of pride, many manufacturers recently developed in house calibres. Calibre 27-525 PS is undoubtedly one of the most successful of such efforts. Beating 21'600 times per hour, hour, it sports an unbelievable 5.25 mm. thickness: it was at the time of its inception the thinnest manually-wound split seconds calibre ever developed. It is stamped with the Patek Philippe seal, launched by the company in 2010 and demanding even stricter requirements than the famed Geneva seal, most notably an accuracy of -3/+2 seconds per day for calibres above 20 mm. in diameter.