Lot 168

Patek Philippe à Genève, Movement No. 30507, Case No. 30507, Cal. 8''', Diameter 24 mm, 36 g, circa 1867
A very fine, rare and early ball-shaped pendant watch "Boule de Genève" with Patek Philippe extract from the archives
Case: 18k gold, ball-shaped case with applied decor in the shape of leather straps with independent non-welded buckles made of gold and silver. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, bezel-wound, cylinder escapement, ring balance.
Our watch has an ingenious keyless winding movement where one half of the ball is turned to wind the watch. As far as we know this is one of the earliest known ball-form watches by Patek Philippe with this kind of winding movement.
The extensive publicity generated a flow of orders for the charming ball-form watches (the so-called "Boules de Genève") from royalty all over the world. Patek Philippe delivered examples to Prince Hussein Kamil of Egypt in 1887 and to Empress Teresa of Brazil in 1888; both pieces are shown in the catalogue of the "Timepieces of Royalty" exhibition that took place at the the Patek Philippe Museum in the autumn of 2005. Today the museum's permanent exhibition holds a small number of later Boules de Genève models in various designs.