Manufacturer: Patek Philippe Year: 1980 Reference No: 894 Movement No: 937’018 Case No: 542’781 Material: 18K yellow gold Calibre: Manual, cal. 17-170, 18 jewels Dimensions: 46mm Diameter Signed: Case and movement signed. Accessories: Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present timepiece with skeleton movement in 1980 and its subsequent sale on January 12th 1981. Further accompanied by original Patek Philippe presentation box.
Catalogue Essay
Over time, and particularly in the past four decades, collectors began to focus on collecting wristwatches, often to the exclusion of the pocket watches that had so dominated watch collecting at its outset. Yet one look at this skeletonized reference 894 should be enough to assure enthusiasts that there is a place for collecting pocket watches in the current market.
Introduced in 1978, the reference 894 was one of the first serially produced skeletonized pocket watches created by Patek Phillippe, though skeletonized examples can be seen since the manufacture’s beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century. Exceptional in every way, its movement’s bridges were crafted in 14 karat yellow gold. All were then fully chased and engraved by hand - every area of the movement that could be cut away was removed. Each reference 894 is therefore in some ways unique, having been embellished individually, and over time, the level of elaborate decoration evolved.
Accompanied with its original presentation box and Extract from the Archives confirming the production of this pocket watch in 1980, it is presented in excellent condition, and only the nineteenth to be identified – amazing, given that the 894 was in production from 1978 until 2006.
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.
