The Best of The Best: Prince Tewfik of Egypt’s Pink-on-Pink Patek Philippe reference 1518 in Rose Gold

Words and Photos by Eric Wind (of Wind Vintage)

One fateful day back in November 2021, I saw a watch that stopped me in my tracks: Prince Mohammed Tewfik A. Toussoun of Egypt’s Patek Philippe reference 1518. This pink-on-pink example retained its original Certificate of Origin showing its sale on on July 25, 1951. What impressed me most was not the paperwork, but the condition. The watch was a knockout - it had an unpolished case and a gorgeous pink dial.

The dial showed some signs of sanding, but as we sometimes say in the Wind Vintage office: “Beggars can’t be choosers.” One would have to look at the back of the dial to see if there were any marks of a “service” on the dial where there was the light sanding and many dealers and collectors do not know that watches sometimes had dial sanding at time of production to clean up any marks or imperfections. It is in fact possible that the watch left the Patek Philippe manufacture with this dial in this condition.

Take a look at the hallmarks, some dirt in the hallmark on the 9:00 side of the case was quite nice to see along with a edge of dirt along the crystal showing some wear over the years. The original unsigned crown is gorgeous and not something you often see on reference 1518s as many have the Calatrava cross logo that sort of disrupts the visual purity of the watch for me.

Of any Patek Philippe reference 1518 on the planet, this is probably the one I would want to own. It’s the best of the best. Sotheby’s sold the watch for $9.57 million USD on December 9, 2021.