'Holy Grail' of timepieces: Gold pocket watch so complex it features stars above Manhattan is set to sell for over £10m
A watch said to be the 'Holy Grail' of timepieces and one of the most complicated ever made is set to go under the hammer for £10million next month.
The Henry Graves Supercomplication timepiece, made by famed watchmaker Patek Philippe, is the most complex ever produced without the use of computer technology.
The gold pocket watch was first commissioned in 1925 by banker Henry Graves Junior, who is considered the greatest watch collector of the 20th century, and was eventually delivered to him in 1933.
The watch was also calibrated so that Mr Graves could tell the time based on the exact position of the sun at his New York home.
The watch features 24 horological complications - or features. They include a perpetual calendar, moon phases, a power reserve and an exact replica of the night sky as seen from Central Park in Manhattan, showing the exact position and magnitude of stars across the Milky Way.
Tim Bourne, Sotheby's Worldwide Head of Watches, and Daryn Schnipper, Chairman of Sotheby's Watch Division, said of the watch: 'The list of superlatives which can be attached to this icon of the 20th century is truly extraordinary.
'Indisputably the 'Holy Grail' of watches, The Henry Graves Supercomplication combines the Renaissance ideal of the unity of beauty and craftsmanship with the apogee of science.'
The Graves watch retained the title of the world's most complicated watch for 56 years and even then was only surpassed by technicians working with the aid of computer-assisted machines.
In 1999 Sotheby's sold the Graves watch for £6.8 million, breaking the record for the most expensive timepiece ever sold at auction.
Next month, to coincide with Patek Philippe's 175th anniversary, the watch is again being auctioned in Geneva by Sotheby's, who expect it to sell for over £10 million.
A number of other Patek Philippe and Rolex watches will also be sold.
Henry Graves was the son of Henry Graves Senior, a founder and partner in the Maxwell & Graves baking firm, and made millions of dollars in banking and the rail roads.
As well as being an avid art collector, Mr Graves had a passion for fine watches, and was a patron of Patek Philippe.
It was a competition with car manufacturer James Ward Packard, that saw him commission the Supercomplication pocket watch.
In 1927 Mr Packard commissioned what he thought was going to be the most complicated watch ever made only be trumped by Mr Graves who spent almost five times as much having his own custom watch created.
After Mr Graves death in 1953, the watch was held in the Museum of Time near Chicago from 1968 until December 1999 when it was sold by Sotheby's to anonymous bidder in New York.
Until Sotheby's again announced it had the famed timepiece for sale, it had been on display at the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.
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