Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
18ct yellow gold Patek Philippe, open face spilt seconds chronograph pocket watch, 1904
- Maker / attribution
- Patek Philippe (maker)
- Date
- 1904
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- yellow gold
- Dimensions
- Case 50 mm
- Stock no.
- G1858
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Somlo Antiques (G1858)
- Catalogue title (original)
- 18ct yellow gold Patek Philippe, open face spilt seconds chronograph pocket watch. Made 1904 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Somlo Antiques (dealer), London (stock number G1858), this is a pocket watch by Patek Philippe, made in Switzerland, dated 1904. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: yellow gold. Recorded dimensions: Case 50 mm. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Somlo Antiques
For decades, pocket watches were the main stage on which Patek Philippe demonstrated its skills. Even though wristwatches have taken their place, they still delight connoisseurs of rare timepieces. As the guardian of high-end watchmaking artistry, the manufacture continues to craft pocket watches in small numbers. Their aesthetic finesse remains a source of fascination. These timepieces with manually wound movements are produced in compliance with the strict directives of the Patek Philippe Seal, as regards both artisan-ship and rate accuracy. Today, vintage Patek Philippe is a titan in the vintage luxury watch community. Their obsessive attention to detail combined with ground-breaking feats such as the first serially produced, perpetual calendar wristwatches as well as the first split-second chronograph wristwatch, have made Patek Philippe wristwatches and pocket watches some of the most sought after in the world. Brand: Patek Philippe Made: 1904 Model: Pocket watch Reference: N/A Calibre: 18"' Movement: Manual Material: 18ct yellow gold Features/complications: Split seconds chronograph Dial: White enamel dial with red printed 0 - 60 outer minute track featuring black printed Arabic numeral hour indices with yellow gold spade hands and subsidiary seconds at 6 o'clock Case dimensions: 50 mm Bracelet/strap: N/A Accessories: Extract from the Archives SKU: 1858
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The pocket watch reached technical maturity and then began to give way to the wristwatch after the First World War. Complicated watches for collectors such as Henry Graves Jr. and James Ward Packard, railroad watches, and slim Art Deco dress watches are characteristic.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Chronographs and split-seconds watches
A chronograph is a watch with an additional seconds hand that can be started, stopped and returned to zero independently of the timekeeping. Louis Moinet built an early example in 1816 and Nicolas Rieussec a recording 'chronographe' in 1821; Adolphe Nicole's heart-shaped reset cam (patented 1862) made the modern return-to-zero possible. Split-seconds (rattrapante) chronographs add a second hand that can be stopped for intermediate times; flyback chronographs restart instantly.
Chronographs were essential tools for doctors (pulsometer scales), artillery (telemeter), engineers and sport. In wristwatches, Valjoux, Venus, Lemania and later the automatic chronographs of 1969 (Zenith El Primero, the Chronomatic Calibre 11 group and Seiko 6139) are milestones.
What to look for
- Push-pieces on the case band or a single button in the crown (monopusher).
- Subsidiary registers for minutes and hours; tachymeter, telemeter or pulsometer scales.
- Column wheel versus cam control visible in the movement.
- Calibre markings of specialist makers (Valjoux, Lemania, Venus, Landeron).
Dating clues
- Pocket chronographs with heart cam reset: after 1862.
- Wrist chronographs: from c. 1910; two-button designs from the 1930s.
- Automatic chronographs: from 1969.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Flyback chronographChronograph
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