TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Christie's to auction rare watch once owned by Egyptian king
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
An exhibitor displays the Patek Philippe 18k gold perpetual chronograph wrist watch with moon phases belonging to the King Farouk, at the Christie's auction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 19, 2018. (Reuters/Satish Kumar)
A
rare gold watch once owned by Egypt’s King Farouk is expected to fetch $400,000 to $800,000 when it auctions this week at Christie’s in Dubai.
An exhibitor displays the Patek Philippe 18k gold perpetual chronograph wrist watch with moon phases belonging to the King Farouk, at the Christie's auction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 19, 2018. REUTERS/Satish Kumar
Made in 1944 and embossed with old Egyptian royal crest, the Patek Philippe 1518 with perpetual calendar and chronograph is said to be one of only 281 such models ever made by the prestigious Swiss watchmaker.
The watch is the cover lot for the auction on Friday, with the value of the sale expected to be announced on Saturday.
Read also: Paul Newman's watch auctioned for record $17.8 million
King Farouk, Egypt’s last king before a 1952 revolution overthrew the monarchy, was a collector of rare watches, a hobby inherited from his father, King Fuad. He owned Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin watches and also collected cars and coins.
“Reference 1518 by itself is a watch that at the time only the elite, the nobility and the most important clients of Patek Philippe would afford,” said Remy Julia, head of watches in the Middle East, India and Africa division at Christie’s in Dubai.
“Why? Because of the price and because it was done in extremely small quantity. Remember that in those days having a watch itself was a luxury. So how about having a gold watch by the best maker, complicated, with perpetual calendar and chronograph,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of a press event to showcase auction items.
The 1518 series was the first by any watch manufacturer to combine perpetual calendar and chronograph.
