One Of Four Steel Patek Philippe 1518s Has Surfaced

It was 1941, when the entirety of the world was at war, that Patek Philippe had other plans and instead embarked on producing reference 1518, one of the most complicated wristwatches of its time. Inspired by the likes of a unique ref 130 with simple calendar, the 1518 began the lineage of serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph wristwacthes, which have since grown to become Pateks most important and complicated non chiming line.

The 1518 was produced primarily in yellow gold but also in fewer numbers in pink gold. Four examples were also produced in stainless-steel, and these are some of the most collectable watches that ever left Patek Philippe in Geneva. One of these four is now up for private sale through Monaco Legend Group at the hands of none other than vintage legend Davide Parmegiani.

Parmegiani is one of if not the most important vintage watch dealers and has had the pleasure of selling all four of the steel 1518s at least once in his lifetime. This now marks the second time he has been given the privilege to sell this particular example, baring case number 508,475 and movement number 863,196. Along with another similar example baring case number 508,473 and movement number 863,193 which sold at Phillips in 2016 for over $12 Million, this is possibly the finest of them all.

Produced in 1943, the extract from the archives states that it was sold three years later on July the 29th 1946, probably for a retail price in the region of $2,500. The extract also states that the watch was delivered with a dial featuring raised gold indexes and more importantly a steel bracelet. The provenance is unmatched.

In 1989 the watch was consigned at the Orion auction by Italian businessman Gerolamo Etro, fetching an impressive $ 281,600. A serious amount of money for a watch back then, probably the equivalent of around $700,000 in todays money, which makes it sound rather modest indeed when you hear the asking price at the bottom of this article.

Six years later in 1995, the watch was consigned to Antiquorum by Swiss collector Ernst Schuster, where it featured on the front cover of the catalogue accompanied by two single button chronograph wristwatches and the only white gold example of the ref 2523. The 1518 and one of the single button chronographs were the only two which didn’t end up in the Patek Philippe Museum later on. However, the watch actually went unsold, along with all three of the other watches on the cover. In fact, a whole lot of treasures went unsold in this particular auction, including two other examples of the ref 1518.

After this unsuccessful appearance, Dr. Crott purchased the watch and then sold it to a german collector for $531,869. It was in 2004 that Davide Parmegiani purchased the watch from this mystery collector for $1.1 Million, and this was the first time he had the pleasure of dealing with it. Naturally he included it in his book ‘The Collection’, all about the most impressive pieces he had handled over the years.

Well this now marks the at least the fifth time that Davide Parmegiani has had the pleasure of selling a steel 1518, and the second time he finds himself selling this particular example. It is undeniably one of the most important and collectable Patek Philippes that remains in the hands of private collectors and outside of the Patek Philippe Museum. For the juicy part you’ve probably been waiting for, the watch is welcoming offers in excess of $20 million. For more information visit the Monaco Legend Group Site.