Vintage 18k Gold Patek Philippe Top Hat Wrist Watch Ref 1450 Signed Dial

Catering to the glitterati of Europe in their early days, Patek Philippe’s Antoni Patek and Jean Adrien Philippe counted among their clients Tolstoy, Pope Pius IX and the Countess Koscowicz of Hungary, for whom they created the first Swiss-made wristwatch in 1868. As Patek Philippe had their eye on the American market, in 1851 the watchmaker entered an arrangement with Tiffany Co., one of the most prominent purveyors of luxury goods in the United States. That partnership is still in effect. 

Today, Patek Philippe Tiffany watches are rare and highly collectible — Patek Philippe Tiffany Co. Nautilus watches are especially coveted by watch enthusiasts all over the world. And while dials in various shades of navy and ultramarine are having a moment, the interest in Patek Tiffany watches with blue dials has substantial staying power — in 2021, a Patek Philippe Tiffany Co. Nautilus 5711 fetched more than $6.5 million at Phillips New York.

It shouldn’t be surprising that a Patek Philippe holds the world auction record for a watch ($31.2 million for a Patek Grandmaster Chime, sold at Christie’s). Known for impeccable craftsmanship and some of the most complicated timepieces ever created, the brand is considered by many to be the height of fine watchmaking. Collectors simply love Patek Philippe watches. The house was founded in Geneva in 1839 by Polish expats Antoni Patek and Franciszek Czapek. Czapek left the firm, and in 1845, Patek partnered with French watchmaker Jean Adrien Philippe. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Tiffany Co. was established in Connecticut in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young. Charles had launched the company’s famed catalogue, the Blue Book, and, with it, the firm’s signature robin’s-egg blue in 1845. In 1853 — not long after the house entered into a partnership with Patek Philippe — Tiffany and Young shifted their focus to fine jewelry. It earned its place in jewelry history with the iconic six-prong Tiffany Setting, introduced in 1886. Since then, Tiffany has indeed been an important arbiter of style in the design of diamond engagement rings, and the designers whose pieces have filled their trademark light-blue boxes include visionaries such as Jean Schlumberger, Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso. 

From the beginning, Patek Philippe has opted for quality over quantity — a decision that has resulted in another lure for collectors: rarity. It’s estimated that fewer than one million Patek Philippe watches have been produced since the company’s founding.

Some of Patek Philippe’s most famous models include the Calatrava, an elegantly minimal dress watch introduced in 1932 and named for the Calatrava Cross (the company’s logo since 1887), and the Nautilus, the maker’s first sports watch, conceived by legendary designer Gérald Genta in 1976. The brand's pieces are understandably attractive to counterfeiters, too — make sure you know how to spot a fake Patek Philippe watch, which, if manufactured after 2009, will bear the Patek Philippe Seal.

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