Okay, you knew this was coming. Back in March, we announced that Christie's would be selling the earliest known steel 530, and oh, by the way, it features a sector dial, is signed by Astrua, and is in great, original condition. Well, we got to see it just this week in New York, and man, is it a beauty. Let's look a little closer.
First, what is the 530? The 530 is the rarest production reference of chronograph from Patek. If you consider the 130 the basic PP chronograph, the 1579 the dressier chrono, and the 1463 the sporty, waterproof chrongraph, the 530 is basically an upsized 130. But it's way up-sized, and it's spectacular.
The average 530 is 36mm, with a thin, flat case and thin rectangular pushers. Inside is a Patek finished Valjoux 23 caliber, barely recognizable after all the hand-work done to it by Patek in its prime. 530 chronographs come with two different cases, one with 19mm lugs, the other with 21.5mm lugs. Oh, and sector dial, steel 530s? Yeah, they're actually .5mm larger still.
Any 530 is a special watch, a steel one more so, a sector dial steel one is about as good as you can ask for. Then, when you consider that this watch was basically unknown to the collecting community – in the same collection for four decades before being offered in this auction and moreover, never written about or in any book – and in fantastic, original condition, you begin to see why this watch is making so many waves in the Patek world.
The watch is not unpolished, nor is the dial flawless, but it's incredibly honest and original. Notice the "Patek, Philippe & Co" long signature still retains commas, and the accent over the "E" in "Geneve" is still present. This is a quick and dirty way to examine if an early dial has been washed or restored, and here, it looks great.
Down below, the "Astrua Torino" signature is deep, and the sector markings are crisp and true. There is a smudge, however, at the 7 o'clock marking, and some printing by the 25 minute marker is faded – the same true at 35.
While the watch is not what we'd call "mint", this is about as good and honest, and exceptionally rare watch as you are going to find. Compare it to the last 530 steel chronograph sold by Christie's (lot here, live pics here), and you can see how much better this dial is. Oh, and at the time, we thought that watch may have been the earliest known steel 530 in the world. We know that is not true, now. By the way, that watch sold for $612,000 then, with a dial that wasn't nearly as nice as this one. Also, even next to the other steel 530 available this month (at Phillips here), you can see how more original this dial is, not to mention its desirable configuration. On the wrist, as you see above, the steel 530 wears like a modern watch, and may in fact be one of the most desirable, rare, early 20th century Pateks in the world. This one, dear friends, is going to fly.
Christie's has an estimate of $500,000 to $800,000 and I've heard from several world-class collectors that they have their sights set on it (though not all!). Click here for more details and if you're in NYC, be sure to head to Christie's to check it out in the metal.
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