In 1872, Patek Philippe began selling watches in South America through the retailer Gondolo and Labouriau, based in Rio de Janeiro. Their relationship lasted until 1927, and proved extremely lucrative for Patek. Gondolo and Labouriau retailed nearly a third of Patek Philippe’s entire production while Europe suffered economically in the leaner years surrounding the First World War. Sales in South America were so successful that Brazilians began to use ‘Patek’ as aꦑ substitute for the noun, ’watch.’

Of course Gondolo & Labouriau also benefited greatly from the relationship and the firm formed an exclusive club of collectors named the Gondolo Gang, with the requirement that each member buy a Patek Philippe piec💮e. Clients could pay ten francs each week towards the 790 franc cost of the watch until the full price was paid, however, Gondolo & Labouriau also held a weekly lottery. The winner of the first week received his watch for free, while the winner the second week would only pay ten francs, the winner of the third week would pay 20 and so on. They continued this for 79 weeks, at which point the rest of the members paid the full retail price. Not only did this serve as clever marketing, but it also allowed members to gamble; an illegal practice in Brazil at the time, though not very enforceable in private clubs.

The present lot perfectly encapsulates the Chronometro Gondolo, which Patek Philippe design♛ed exclusively for the retailer in the early 1900s. Gondolo & Labouriau requested certain specifications to differentiate watches made specifically for them from the other watches in Patek’s production line. Chronometro Gondolo pocket watches are keyless winding with wolf's tooth winding whe🏅els and include a recessed square socket for releasing the barrel spring; the watches also have a gold wheel train, a moustache lever and a special off-set precision regulator with snail-form cam. Gondolos with 24-hour dials are among the most distinctive and iconic examples of these watches and their hour markers were usually calibrated from either 0-23 or, as in this case, 1-24.