文章 | Patek Philippe 2481 Tropics Cloisonne Enamel Dial Phillips Hong Kong Watch Auction Xxiii November 2026

Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo presents The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXIII, a live auction taking place on 21–22 November 2026 at our West Kowloon headquarters. Featuring more than 320 exceptional luxury timepieces from makers such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, and F.P. Journe, the sale includes the Patek Philippe Cloisonné Enamel Ref. 2481 in this story.

Palm trees stretch across the dial, their leaves curling around a background of blue and pale yellow. Below them sits an assortment of fruit in yellow, brown, orange, and red. There is plenty to catch the eye on this Patek Philippe Ref. 2481, even before you begin tracing the fine gold outlines that hold its tropical scene together.

Made in 1954, the pink gold watch features in The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXIII. Its cloisonné enamel dial takes us back to the workshops of dial maker Stern Frères and the skill of master enameler Marguerite Koch.

A Generous Canvas

Launched in 1950, the Ref. 2481 was among Patek Philippe’s largest wristwatches of the period. Its 36.5mm diameter earned it the collector nickname “King Size.”

Made by casemaker Bernard Dubois, it features a concave bezel and elongated, claw-shaped lugs with pronounced steps. Seen from the side, those lugs sweep down toward the wrist. The reference also came with conventional silvered dials. On those examples, the broad dial leaves generous space between the hands and hour markers.

Here, that same expanse accommodates a resplendent tropical scene. Applied gold Roman numerals at the quarters alternate with dot hour markers, while a separate minute track runs around the edge. Gold leaf-shaped hour and minute hands and a blued steel seconds hand pass over the landscape, driven by the manually wound Caliber 27SC.

Wire and Fire

Working for Stern Frères, Koch created cloisonné enamel dials for makers including Patek Philippe and Rolex, her subjects ranging from sailing ships to mythical creatures. For this scene, she used fine gold wire, cut and shaped into the contours of leaves, a tree trunk, and fruit – dexterous work, especially at this scale.

The wires establish the drawing and divide the surface into small compartments, known as cloisons, ready to receive colored enamel.

Enamel is glass colored with metal oxides. Ground into powder and mixed with water for application, it is placed within the compartments and fired in a kiln, fusing to the prepared base. Patek Philippe’s explanation of the technique describes firing at around 850°C, with successive applications and firings building the enamel.

Creating the colors requires more than filling each compartment with a single shade. Transparent enamels can be layered or worked into neighboring colors to produce gradual transitions within the gold boundaries. The enameler must judge both the placement of the material and its response to heat.

Each tropical dial required this work afresh, with tiny differences in the shaped wires and composition distinguishing one example from another.

Tropical Palette

On this watch, green gives way to yellow along the leaves, while deep blue passes into paler, sandy tones. Along the bottom, reddish-orange shades soften into lighter yellows. The trunk carries its own changes of shade. The gold contours give the foliage its shape, while the changing tones within them suggest light and depth.

It is thought that the tropical landscapes of Paul Gauguin and Henri Rousseau served as inspiration for this dial type. According to Phillips’ research, 12 Ref. 2481 watches with tropical landscape cloisonné dials are known across yellow and pink gold, including six in pink gold. Some known examples include raindrops; others have different fruit or changes to the mountains, water, and sky.

The accompanying Extract from the Archives records this watch’s manufacture in 1954, its “Tropics” cloisonné enamel dial, and its sale on October 2, 1956.

Seven decades later, the case retains crisp steps on its lugs and strong hallmarks, while the dial remains exceptionally well preserved. Its vivid colors, subtle gradients, and fine gold contours invite you to linger over the tropical scene, discovering another leaf, shade, or detail with each look. You may find yourself contemplating it for some time before even remembering to read the hands.

You can learn more, place a bid, and view the entire Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXIII catalog here.