Patek Ref.1518 auction result June 9th

The 35 mm size is irrelevant for these watches.

Yep. I think the fees are 27%

Btw, does anyone know if the auctioneer get a salary plus a commission on her sales? If so, it’s no wonder she handed it to another auctioneer after this sale.

In its favour, the 1518 is special as it was the first ever perpetual calendar chrono wrist watch ever made and a feat in the 1940s to make it that size. Still, I would have preferred Swigert’s BA 145.022-69 Apollo XI tribute at USD152k sold in that same auction.

About 30 years ago I handled a pristine Ref 1518 in pink gold, with a pink dial and matching PP substantial pink bracelet, it was the most spectacular watch I've ever seen, it was drop dead gorgeous. It wasn't the garish pink you see today, it was soft, almost faded. It had just the right patina, it had seen use but was well taken care of. Harald Schade, the vintage dealer in Zurich who had a shop just down the lane from the Paradeplatz, was always on the lookout for fine watches so he put ads in the papers in the region to tease them out. Most Swiss didn't know the names of the top brands like PP, AP or VC. A woman calls him and says she has a watch and spells out P-a-t-e-k P-h-i-l-i-p-p-e, she says it has buttons on the side and little windows in the dial. He drops the phone and jumps on a train to see the watch. He asks what she wanted for it and she said CHF 15,000....SOLD! Soon after he was offered CHF 180,000 for it but he wasn't selling. These watches are truly spectacular in person.