I · The Maker/II · The Object/III · The Record/IV · Acquisition
Room I · The Maker
Patek, Philippe & Cie Genève was already the pre-eminent Geneva maker when this chronograph left the workshops around 1906 to 1909, and it was finished as a presentation piece in January 1913. The column wheel mechanism is the hand-built, high-grade approach to chronograph-making, each component individually fitted, and the gilt movement carries the firm's own calibre with lever escapement. It is a product of the era before Patek adopted the Calatrava cross and the branding we know today, signed in the original pre-1932 style.
The Object
A column wheel chronograph by Patek, Philippe & Cie in 18 carat gold, inscribed and presented to a named recipient on the 9th of January 1913. Over a century later, every function works precisely: seconds, chronograph and 30-minute register.
A chronograph of 49.1mm in 18 carat yellow gold, made by Patek, Philippe & Cie in the years around 1906 to 1909, and finished as a gift. Inside the case back, in period script, is a name and a date: P. Grandvarlet, 9 Janvier 1913.
Somebody chose this watch carefully. It was commissioned from the finest maker in Geneva while the firm still wore its older identity, the comma in the name, Genève in the old spelling on the dial, and it was not a casual decision: a column wheel chronograph in a full gold case was among the most serious watches money could buy in 1913. Who Grandvarlet was, and what the occasion was, the watch does not say. It has simply been kept well, for a very long time, by people who understood what it was.
The white enamel dial is the original, with Breguet Arabic numerals, running seconds at six and the thirty-minute recorder at twelve, under the ornate gold scrolled hands Patek fitted to movements of this grade. It is intact everywhere: no chips, no hairlines, no restoration. The case is generous even for its era, a proper hand-filling watch, its hinged back opening cleanly.
And it still does everything it was built to do. It winds, sets and runs; the chronograph starts, stops and returns to zero with the recorder advancing as it should, a hundred and ten years on and never fussed over.
It comes without box or papers. It comes instead with what it has always carried: a name, a date, and a movement that still keeps time. The marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the inscription is shown in The Record.
Beneath the case
Open each drawer to look closer
- 118ct gold hallmark (0750)Confirms the case is 18 carat yellow gold, the standard for high-grade Swiss watchmaking.gold18ct
- 2Maker's punchThe maker's mark struck into the case at Geneva.makergeneva
- 3Case number 262489The individual case number, used to cross-reference the movement and case records.serialcase
- AColumn wheelThe traditional high-grade chronograph mechanism, individually fitted.
- BLever escapementStandard Swiss lever, ensuring reliable timekeeping.
- CGilt platesThe movement plates are gilt-finished in the Geneva tradition.
- D30-minute registerRecords elapsed chronograph time up to thirty minutes.
Case
Excellent
Light surface scratches to exterior case back only. No dents, no repairs, no polish damage. Hinge functions correctly.
Dial
Excellent
White enamel intact throughout: no chips, no hairlines, no staining. Original gold scroll hands present and undamaged.
Movement
Excellent
Fully functional including column wheel chronograph. Winds, sets and runs correctly. Start, stop and reset all operate.
Crystal
Excellent
Original glass crystal, clean and undamaged.
Crown
Excellent
Present and functional.
Box/Papers
Neither box nor papers are present or recorded.
49.11
This watch
25.75
€2 coin
A €2 coin is 25.75 mm. This case is more than two and a half times its area.
Room III · The Record
Presented to P. Grandvarlet, 9 January 1913
The case back is inscribed to a named recipient, P. Grandvarlet, dated 9 Janvier 1913. This is a presentation chronograph, commissioned and inscribed for a specific occasion and person, rather than an anonymous retail purchase. The inscription gives the watch a fixed point in time and a fragment of provenance that most pieces of this period have lost.
- Maker
- Patek, Philippe & Cie Genève
- Model
- Column wheel chronograph
- Case
- 18ct yellow gold (0750)
- Diameter
- 49.11mm
- Case style
- Open face
- Movement
- Manual wind, lever escapement
- Complications
- Column wheel chronograph with 30-minute register; sub-seconds
- Dial
- White enamel, Breguet Arabic numerals, ornate gold scrolled hands, two-register layout
- Country of origin
- Switzerland (Geneva)
- Hallmarks
- 0750 (18ct gold), maker's punch, case number 262489
- Serial number
- 138180
- Estimated date
- C.1906–1909 (presented 9 January 1913)
The Estate Collection
Room IV · Acquisition
€24.000
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Patek Philippe
€24.000
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Column Wheel Chronograph, 1913
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