SJX Watches
Highlights: Vintage Patek Philippe – and One Special Day-Date – at Sotheby’s Hong Kong
With Sotheby’s Hong Kong sale just around the corner, we’re rounding up a half-dozen notable vintage watches from the auction, primarily big-ticket Patek Philippe complications. Amongst them a few oddities, one a Patek Philippe ref. 3448 “Senza Luna”, a perpetual calendar with the moon phase omitted, and the other the Rolex Day-Date with a “Submariner” dial. With the preview exhibition open daily from now till October 12, the auction will take place on October 13. The catalogue and registration for bidding are available on Sothebys.com. Lot 2265: Patek Philippe ref. 130 The oldest watch of the selection is a Patek Philippe ref. 130, the brand’s first serially-produced wristwatch chronograph that remained in the catalogue for over three decades. The model’s longevity makes it an inevitability that a good number of ref. 130 variants exist. Indeed, the model varies greatly in terms case material and dial design, with some combinations being rarer than others. One such rare combination is a steel case with “sector” dial, like the present example. Made by Wenger, the steel cases of the ref. 130 have shorter and wider-spaced lugs compared to the gold cases that made by Vichet, giving the 33 mm case a more imposing appearance Chronograph wristwatches from that era typically feature tiny counters that sit close to the edge of the dial, leaving the dial clean and distinctly vintage. But the “sector” dial here is an entirely different animal – the sect...