Very fine and extremely rare Patek Philippe large and heavy 18K gold tandem wind
"trip" minute repeater circa 1900.
Fine white enamel dial with black and gold numerals and fancy gold hands.
Plain polish case with polychrome enamel monogram. Highestquality 19 ligne
nickel 36 jewel movement jeweled to the hammers and the center with precision
regulator, the balance with gold and platinum screws. Case, dial and movement
signed Patek Philippe. This watch is in wonderful condition throughout.
When activated, this watch chimes the exact time using different chime tones to
designate the hours, quarter hours, and minutes with loud clear tones.
Traditional repeaters have a short repeater mainspring that is wound when the
mechanism is cocked. On this watch the repeater mainspring is long and is wound
along with the time mainspring. To sound this repeater, a small button in the
crown is depressed which trips the repeater train and allows it to chime the time.
Patek Philippe started making double-train trip repeaters around 1900 and
continued making them, in very limited quantities, over the next 25 years.
According to published estimates there are fewer than thirty of them known.
Most of these are relatively small, and trip minute repeaters of this large size
and heavy weight are particularly rare.
