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Patek Philippe
Ref. 1463
"Tasti Tondi"
An extremely rare and very attractive stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with silvered dial, steel hour markers and tachometer scale
Full-Cataloguing
The last generation of dials, such as the present one, do no longer feature Arabic or Roman numerals at the 12 and 6 o'clock position, such as the previous two lots, but all hour markers are now exclusively straight baton numerals. Another noteworthy design element of these late production dials is the omission of the outer railway track, also known as chemin de fer, what collectors describe as the two or three concentric black circles connected by minute or even fifth of the seconds markings. The dial of the present watch features now only one black circle outside the incredibly contemporary facetted hour markers, lending the watch a look that has survived way into the 1990s.
This example is the only publicly known reference 1463 in steel featuring such a dial and, has been widely acknowledged to be one of the world's best examples of Patek Philippe's iconic water-proof chronograph. This opinion is also shared by John Goldberger, author of Patek Philippe Steel Watches, who dedicated the watch a prominent position inside his book.
Patek Philippe
Swiss | 1839Since its founding in 1839, this famous Geneva-based firm has been surprising its clientele with superbly crafted timepieces fitted with watchmaking's most prestigious complications. Traditional and conservative designs are found across Patek Philippe's watches made throughout their history — the utmost in understated elegance.
Well-known for the Graves Supercomplication — a highly complicated pocket watch that was the world’s most complicated watch for 50 years — this family-owned brand has earned a reputation of excellence around the world. Patek's complicated vintage watches hold the highest number of world records for results achieved at auction compared with any other brand. For collectors, key models include the reference 1518, the world's first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph, and its successor, the reference 2499. Other famous models include perpetual calendars such as the ref. 1526, ref. 3448 and 3450, chronographs such as the reference 130, 530 and 1463, as well as reference 1436 and 1563 split seconds chronographs. Patek is also well-known for their classically styled, time-only "Calatrava" dress watches, and the "Nautilus," an iconic luxury sports watch first introduced in 1976 as the reference 3700 that is still in production today.