Patek Philippe Ref. 130 steel case and sector dial. True Story
In 2009, at a watch fair in Budapest, I bought a Patek Philippe Ref. 130 Sector Dial chronograph from a young dealer.
What made this watch particularly interesting was that it was housed in a gold case that was not original to the watch. Since both the movement and the dial were unquestionably original, I came to the conclusion that someone had originally purchased the watch in its steel case and, for whatever reason, decided they preferred a gold case and commissioned a jeweler to make one.
Fortunately, the serial number of the original steel case had been engraved inside the custom-made gold case. This gave me certainty that the watch had indeed originally been a steel-cased Patek Philippe Ref. 130 Sector Dial chronograph.
I remember feeling genuinely disappointed that the original steel case appeared to have been discarded, knowing that steel Ref. 130 chronographs are considerably rarer and far more valuable than their gold counterparts.
I eventually offered the watch for sale, and it was purchased by an American collector and dealer who had previously served as the President and CEO of a well-known watch auction house.
Years passed, and seventeen years later I happened to meet another Hungarian watch dealer. During our conversation, I told him the story of what I had bought at the Budapest watch fair in 2009 and what had become of the watch.
To my surprise, he immediately reacted. In 2019, he had purchased the estate of a watchmaker and, among the contents, discovered a Patek Philippe steel chronograph case in NOS (New Old Stock) condition. The crown was still present, although the chronograph pushers were missing.
We both became very excited, and he asked whether I remembered the case number that had been engraved inside the gold case.
To our astonishment, the serial number matched exactly with that of the steel case he had found.
What are the chances of something like this happening? Virtually none — and yet it did.
The more complicated part of the story is that, in the meantime, the American dealer had reunited the watch with a steel case and later sold it through his own website. The archived listing can still be viewed today.
Why am I convinced that it was the very same watch? Quite simply because the dial from the watch I had sold appeared in the watch he later offered for sale. This can be verified by the tiny, characteristic imperfections on the dial, which are identical and unmistakable.
The watch surfaced again in 2016 in the inventory of a well-known New York-based Patek Philippe collector and dealer, presented as a newly acquired piece. He proudly displayed it during the Geneva Watch Days in May 2016. It was even featured on the Instagram account of a highly respected Italian collector and author of several renowned books on Patek Philippe and Rolex, widely known in the watch community by the initials "GM."
The watch was still visible in this New York collector's collection as late as 2019.
I reached out to them in the hope that the watch and the original steel case could somehow be reunited. Reuniting these two components would not only create an extraordinary and historically important piece, but would also increase its value substantially. Beyond the financial aspect, the story itself is truly remarkable and unique.
I will post the photographs I still have from the period when the watch was housed in the gold case. Unfortunately, after seventeen years, these are the only images I have been able to find in my archive. However, the relevant details are clearly visible. I will also share the photographs published by the dealer and by the collector.
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this extraordinary story. And perhaps someone may even know how to contact the current owner. I have written several times to the New York dealer over the years, but unfortunately I have never received a response.
If this watch and its original steel case could one day be reunited, it would bring an exceptional chapter of Patek Philippe history full circle.
