It is in near mint condition, and that gold and blue enamel dial is absolutely stunning

By now everybody should still be talking about the CHF31 million (S$42.62 million) Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300A sold at Only Watch 2019. But here’s another timepiece by the Genevan manufacture that’s worth your attention – and investment.

Coming up at the next Christie’s important watches auction in Hong Kong on 23rd November is this vintage Patek Philippe Ref. 2523. There is only one piece like this in the entire world, and it’s unique in more ways than one.

Out of seven known ever made, only five pink gold Ref. 2523s have been spotted on the auction block thus far. So let’s discover more about the watch.

Double Signature

First up, if you’re familiar with Patek Philippe world timers, you’ll know that the Ref. 2523 is a two-crown variation. One crown controls the time and the other, the cities ring. This beautiful reference is also a double-signed model featuring the logo of Milan retailer Gobbi along with Patek Philippe.

Notice the distinctive ’50s style of this watch? This piece was made in 1953 and it’s got a gorgeous royal blue enamel dial at the centre, which is surrounded by a gold ring itself punctuated by applied gold Roman hour numerals.

Vintage Styling

Look at the 24-hour ring. Like all of Patek Philippe’s world timers, it’s split into black and white portions for night and day. But here the numerals are clearly old-school. We especially love the open six and nine digits – very nostalgic.

Also very quaint are the cities indicated on the cities ring, where you see Bombay instead of Mumbai, Saigon instead of Ho Chi Minh City and Peiping instead of Beijing.

It even includes Singapore on the same time zone as Saigon, which is accurate in the ’50s. Singapore Standard Time was only created in the ’80s.

Further details like the gold Lys hour hand, a dauphine minute hand, and soldered lugs highlight the exclusivity of the timepiece.

Auction Details

According to Christie’s, this timepiece came from an important private collection. And the last time it appeared was also at a Christie’s important watches auction, Geneva 2010.

Christie’s expects the hammer to fall between HK$55 million to HK$110 million (approximately S$9,570,043 to S$19,140,086).

Bidding will start on 23rd November at 5.30pm (UTC +8). The auction will be held at the Grand Hall of Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Or you can register on the Christie’s website to follow the sale online.