Lot 36
PATEK PHILIPPE. A UNIQUE 18K GOLD OPENFACE KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH ENAMEL MINIATURE BY MARTHE BISCHOFFRef: 715 / 15, Circa 1975
14 April 2022, 13:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$145,275 inc. premium
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PATEK PHILIPPE. A UNIQUE 18K GOLD OPENFACE KEYLESS LEVER WATCH WITH ENAMEL MINIATURE BY MARTHE BISCHOFF
Reference: 715 / 15
Date: Circa 1975
Movement: 18-jewel Cal. 17"'-140, screwed monometallic balance, Seal of Geneva, no. 893321
Dial: Silvered, applied faceted gold baton numerals, subsidiary seconds, gold hands
Case: Snap back with finely painted enamel miniature of two horses, no. 432829
Signed: Case, dial and movement, miniature signed, M. Bischoff
Size: 47mm
Date: Circa 1975
Movement: 18-jewel Cal. 17"'-140, screwed monometallic balance, Seal of Geneva, no. 893321
Dial: Silvered, applied faceted gold baton numerals, subsidiary seconds, gold hands
Case: Snap back with finely painted enamel miniature of two horses, no. 432829
Signed: Case, dial and movement, miniature signed, M. Bischoff
Size: 47mm
Footnotes
The present lot is one of only a handful of enamel pieces to be completed by the artist Marthe Bischoff for Patek Philippe. Marthe Bischoff (1900-1991) was one of the preeminent Geneva enamellers of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1960's she was employed by Patek Philippe and throughout her career as an enamel artist was commissioned to create unique painted on enamel watches for the firm alongside other masters such as Suzanne Rohr and Helene May Mercier. For one to view some of her work they would need to visit the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, Switzerland, which contains two examples of her painted on enamel masterpieces of only a handful known.
Bischoff's mastery of miniature painting is on full display with the present lot. Other examples of her work usually feature expansive scenes of country life, and the present lot has elements of those in the background landscape. The central image, however, is up close and highly detailed in the presentation of two horses, one looking out to the viewer. This presentation emphasizes Bischoff's artistry as the detail needed to produce a realistic image come down to the fine details, usually made by a single hair paintbrush. From start to finish, one of these paintings can take around six months.
It is a rare opportunity to acquire a such an elusive example, let alone one which has remained with the original owners' family since purchase, and this painted enamel watch would be a crowning pieces to a collection with its place in the pantheon of hand crafts that Patek Philippe has created over the last century and a half.
