Phillips To Auction Patek Philippe Owned By Last Emperor Of China

A rare 1929 Patek Philippe Calatrava owned by the last emperor of the Chinese Qing dynasty will hit the block at Phillips later this year, with bidding starting at $1-million. The watch is a case study in how provenance and brand name trump condition when it comes to certain vintage watches. The original owner of the Patek Philippe Reference 96 Quantieme Lune (Day, Date, Month and Moon phase) was Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the last emperor of China. The 30mm platinum case is unrestored, and the dial is vigorously scratched, but the provenance is singular, and the watch is a rare find and a prized example of an early Patek Philippe complication. It was made in 1929, and was later sold on 6th October 1937.

Puyi was the subject of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 film The Last Emperor. When the Japanese forces surrendered in 1945, he was captured by the Soviet Red Army and imprisoned in Russia for five years before being allowed to return to China. During his time in the Soviet Union, Puyi developed a close friendship with his interpreter, Georgy Permyakov, to whom he gifted the watch. Permyakov kept the watch until his death in 2005, at which point it passed to his estate, which the current consigner acquired recently

Only seven Patek Philippe reference 96 complications like this were previously known. This is the eighth example to appear, and one of only three with this dial configuration. One is now part of the Patek Phillipe Museum collection and the second was sold in 1996 to a private collector, according to Phillips. The dial is heavily scratched because, as the story goes, the emperor at some point ordered a servant to determine if it was made from platinum by removing some of its silver paint; he ordered the servant to stop when it became apparent that only base metal lay beneath.

Phillips is selling the watch, along with several artifacts that previously belonged to Puyi, including an inscribed paper fan, a manuscript notebook, watercolor paintings and a leather-bound printed edition of Confucius’ Analects. They will be unveiled in at Phillips in Hong Kong this week, where they will be exhibited until March 31, followed by exhibits in New York, Singapore, London, Taipei and Geneva, with the pieces being offered for sale at a yet-to-be-announced date.