Time Back On November 9, 2015, Christie’s Geneva auction, a Replica Patek Philippe Ref.2497 black gold-plated dial watch aroused the collector’s attention. This is the Ref.2497 watch with a black gold plated dial debut at the auction market with an estimated 500,000 to 1 million Swiss francs. Originally owned by the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, the watch was later given to a friend.

Haier Selassie Ref.2497, a rare Patek Philippe watch, will be auctioned off at Christie’s this May

The auction was originally planned, but due to ongoing controversy over ownership, the luxury replica watches for sale was withdrawn at the last minute of the auction on November 9, 2015. On May 15 this year, Patek Philippe Ref.2497, once owned by the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, will return to the Christie’s Geneva auction. Conflict of ownership has been settled.

Ref.2497 watch engraved engraved under the end of the name of the Emperor Haile Selassie

So, back to this watch, why it is so special? Ref.2497 Inherits Ref.1526, one of the earliest perpetual calendar models produced by Patek Philippe. Ref.2497’s production cycle from 1950 to 1963, equipped with Caliber 27-SCQ manual winding movement, heavy case, with a stepped bezel design. Ref.2497 watches participating in the auction is particularly special, the most obvious is equipped with black gold-plated dial, which is very rare in the Patek Philippe antique timepiece. In addition, the combination of gold-plated time-stamps and Arabic numerals is unusual and has not been seen before.
So, this watch actually come from? In fact, it was donated by Italian entrepreneur and pilot Federico Bazzi to Haile Selassie in 1954. Then, Haile Selassie sent it to “a famous man in Africa,” which passed the watch to future generations, eventually commissioned Christie’s auction. As we know it is not easy to trace the origin of a watch, so this type of information is of great benefit to auction sales. All in all, I am very happy to see this Ref.2497 watch back to the auction, after all, it is deeply regrettable.