PRESS-RELEASE

Press contact: Emma Luxardo
Managing Director
Patrizzi & Co Auctioneers Italy
Tel. +39 02 4548 0754
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Revised Press Release 2 November 2009

IMPORTANT COLLECTORS’ POCKET WATCHES, WRISTWATCHES AND CLOCKS
AND ONE OWNER COLLECTION OF VINTAGE HEUER WRISTWATCHES

AUCTION: GRAND HOTEL ET DE MILAN, MILAN

SATURDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2009: PRIVATE COLLECTION OF HEUER WRISTWATCHES

SUNDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2009: IMPORTANT POCKET WATCHES, WRISTWATCHES AND CLOCKS

Following the exceptional success of its Collection of Renaissance Clocks auction on 24 May this year, Patrizzi & Co will be holding another auction of exceptional works of horological art and masterpiece timepieces from the XVI to the XXI century in Milan on 29 November.

Around 300 lots will be put to auction, which will undoubtedly satisfy the taste and passion of just about every category of collector and timepiece enthusiast. In addition to numerous clocks and table clocks, mostly Baroque, French (Louis XV and XVI), and German pieces made for the Italian market, there will be special escapement pocket watches from the now dispersed Giuseppe Brusa Collection, modern and vintage Rolex wristwatches, including Daytona, and Pre-Daytona, as well as the famous Ref. 3525, better known as the Prisoner’s Watch, which, in the steel version, was sold on credit to British officers held as prisoners of war in Germany, with an agreement for them to pay for at the end of the war.

No sale would be complete without exceptional Italian timepiece creations. Underlining this is the presence in this auction of a genuine masterpiece – a table clock for the night signed by Guiseppe Campani. Following the request of Pope Alexandre VII – who suffered from insomnia – the Campani brothers invented a timepiece that made it possible to read the time in the dark. The Pope had asked his chamberlain to find an artisan who could make a clock that functioned soundlessly and allowed one to read the time easily during the night. The Notturno clock, has a silent escapement and an internal source of light. The front part – in a form that reminds one of a Baroque alter or the façade of a church – is the reproduction of a table attributed to the Maratta School.

Also in this auction, the Gênes School is represented by table clocks signed by Callin and Ganzinotto and along with the clocks of Bertola attest to the Trente art of watchmaking. The Romaine School, for its part, is illustrated by the timepieces of Citella and Villacroce, the unique master watchmaker known in the romaine region for having made a clock in the form of a book.

Also in this sale are very rare prototypes Panerai wristwatches of the 1940s-50s. And finally, a very high quality selection of around 130 Heuer wristwatches (as of 1985 better known as TAG Heuer), coming from a private collection of watches produced around 1930 and 1980 – the fruit of 30 years of collecting – which has never before appeared on the market, and included in the selection, the classic Monaco sports models, Steve McQueen, Harley Davidson, Daytona, Silverstone, Carrera… as well as special customized pieces.

The length of the exhibition of the complete collection is also considerable, almost a whole week, from 24 November to the day of the sale (29 November), a week of not-to-be-missed side events, including an exhibition of watches to be auctioned for charity in favor AIRC (www.airc.it) on the 24th and 25th, and two full days of silent auction, the 27th and 28th November.

A preview of some lots during Bespoke Milano, Fiera dell’Eccellenza, from 12 to 15 November.

The catalog will be available as of 10 November.

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Highlights

Extraordinary collection of Italian Baroque clocks, including a magnificent Notturno, Giuseppe Campani, Roma (1636 – 1715) Estimate: Euros 120-180’000

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Magnificent lantern clock. Camerini, in copper, 1670 circa. Estimate: Euros 22-28’000

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Series of Italian table clocks from the end of the XVII to the end of the XVIII century, provenance Palermo, Genoa and Trento. Estimates on request.

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Wonderful “Cartell” wall clock with Louis XV console , Henry Padeval à Paris, in gilded bronze and green horn. Estimate: Euros 15-18’000

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Superb traveling book clock, Franco Villacroce, Rome, 1755. Estimate: Euros 33-40’000

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Wall Regulator Clock, Rodella, Padua, Biedermeier period, 1830 circa, with Italian-style dial in 6. Estimate: Euros 32-40’000

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“Cartell d’applique” gilded bronze wall clock, Baptiste Baillon, Louis XV. Estimate: Euros 20-25’000

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Very rare Panerai wristwatch prototypes, from the period 1940 – 1950. Estimates on request

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Series of Rolex Daytona and Predaytona sports watches, Ref. 3525 (better known as the Prisoner’s Watch). Estimates on request

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German clock for the Italian market, Ioh Georg Ploninger, München, mid-1600 circa, from the now dispersed Ruscitti Collection. Estimate: Euros 20-30’000

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Series of very particular escapement pocket watches, from the now dispersed Giuseppe Brusa Collection. Estimate: Euros 1000-1500 each.

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Patrizzi & Co

Recognized as probably the world’s most important watch expert, Osvaldo Patrizzi, founder and chairman of Patrizzi & Co, trained originally as a watchmaker and then, spotting the growing interest of watch aficionados in collecting and buying these miniature masterpieces, he formed his first auction house.

Patrizzi was the first to develop thematic auctions as he watched the growth in market interest in specialist complication watch brands such as Patek Philippe, Cartier, Rolex, Swatch, Vacheron Constantin, and Omega – to name but a few.

Today, with his new auction house, Patrizzi offers even more benefits to watch collectors:

NO buyer’s commission: This represents the saving to buyers of between 20–25% of the hammer price, which most other major auction houses charge.

Five-year guarantee of authenticity: This guarantee eliminates what is often perceived to be the “risk factor” in buying important pieces via the Internet and includes an accurate and very detailed description of the quality of the piece(s) being purchased.

A choice of catalogs: Clients have a choice of purchasing a full color printed catalog or downloading their own personalized version of the online catalog onto their computer or new generation e-Book.

The Italian headquarters of Patrizzi & Co in Milan, inaugurated in Milan on 11 June 2008, is situated in Via Monte di Pietà, at number 24, in the historic setting of the Fashion Quadrilatero. In little more than a year, it has already organized two prestigious auctions, very different from each other but both enormously successful – the sale of the Davide Blei Vintage Rolex Watches Collection, and the of Collection European Renaissance Clocks. The auction house also offers free evaluations and all the information required to participate and sell at Patrizzi & Co auctions throughout the world.

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Preview exhibition

MILAN From 24 to 28 November 2009, 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.
29 November 2009, 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Patrizzi & Co
Via Monte di Pietà, 24 – 20121 Milan
Tel +39.02/45480754 – Fax +39.02/45480713
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Auction

Saturday 28: 4.00 p.m. Private collection of Heuer wristwatches

Sunday, 29 November 2009: 2.30 p.m. Important pocket watches, wristwatches and clocks

Grand Hotel et De Milan, Milan
29, via Manzoni, Milan

For more details of the sale visit: www.patrizziauction.com