Patek Philippe - The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI Geneva Saturday, November 5, 2022 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Patek Philippe
    Year: 2017
    Reference No: 5650G-001
    Movement No: 7'051'093
    Case No: 6'169'861
    Model Name: Advanced Research Aquanaut Travel Time
    Material: 18K white gold
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 324 S C FUS, 29 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Blue Rubber
    Clasp/Buckle: 18K white gold Patek Philippe deployant clasp
    Dimensions: 40.8mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement and clasp signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by Patek Philippe Certificate of Origin dated April 27, 2017, product literature, leather envelop, fitted presentation box and numbered service cardboard box.

  • Catalogue Essay

    In the early 2000s, Patek Philippe created the Advanced Research department with the goal of finding innovative timekeeping and engineering solutions intended to advance the field of watchmaking into the 21st century. Working with the CSEM research lab and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, researchers originally focused on “new materials”, “new manufacturing technologies” and a “new conceptual fundamentals”. Out of this came Silinvar®, a patented mono-crystal silicon. The material is unaffected by temperature change, is very lightweight, requires no lubrication and is corrosion resistant. Patek Philippe’s first watch to use this new material was the reference 5250 Annual Calendar Advanced Research with Silinvar® escape wheel, and it was followed by 3 more models (5350, 5450 and 5550) which saw incremental application of the technology to the hairspring, escape anchor, and eventually balance wheel, finally achieving a full escapement in silicon.

    The fifth “brainchild” of the Advanced Research department, represented by the present piece, moved away from new materials to rather focus on a new application of an old material: stainless steel. Reference 5650G can be considered an archetypal result of the AR department. Inspired by the company’s heritage (the first travel time reference - ref. 2597 - dates back to the 1950s) Patek Philippe engineers found a novel way to construct Louis Cottier’s invention of a jumping hour hand. Using technologies unimaginable until a few years ago, the travel time system, originally constructed as an “old school” ensemble of hinged steel bridges and screws, was redesigned to be a single piece sporting flexible steel blades. This solution eliminates any hinged part from the system, thus enormously increasing its precision, resilience, and lifetime. The window cut into the dial of the watch allows the wearer to admire the entire system in action.

    Produced in a limited edition of 500 timepieces, the model is currently one of the most heatedly sought-after modern Patek Philippe pieces. The present example is offered by the original owner and comes with all its original accessories. Furthermore, having been service at the company, it is offered sealed in its service plastic sleeve and together with the service cardboard box.

  • Artist Biography

    Patek Philippe

    Swiss • 1839

    Since 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.

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149

Ref. 5650G-001
A highly sought after and innovative travel time wristwatch with center seconds, date, certificate of origin and presentation box, service sealed

2017
40.8mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement and clasp signed

Estimate
CHF300,000 - 600,000 
€307,000-615,000
$299,000-598,000

Sold for CHF504,000

Contact Specialist

Alexandre Ghotbi
Head of Watches, Continental Europe and the Middle East
+41 22 317 81 81
AGhotbi@phillips.com
 

Tiffany To
Head of Sale, Geneva
+41 22 317 96 63
TiffanyTo@phillips.com

The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI

Geneva Auction 5 - 6 November 2022