140-year-old watch, once owned by Tata founder Jamsetji, to be auctioned Tuesday

By Saurabh Bose

A 140-year-old Patek Philippe pocket watch, once owned by Tata founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, will be auctioned in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

The watch was custom-ordered by Tata and will be sold for an estimated $10,000 to $20,000.

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The 18 karat, pink gold timepiece was gifted by Tata to English architect James Morris in 1890 as a thank you for his work on the Tata family mansion, Esplanade House, in Mumbai.

Engraved on the back of the watch is a dedication to Morris: "This watch is presented by Jamsetjee N Tata to James Morris Esq, the architect, Esplanade House, Bombay, in recognition of his professional skill and of the care and attention devoted by him during its construction, 1890."

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. (Image source: Tata Central Archives) (Others)

Jamsetji Tata's dedication to his architect James Morris. (Image source: Tata Central Archives) (Others)

WION spoke with Thomas Perazzi, Head of Watches, Asia, at Phillips, the auction house selling the watch.

Perazzi says that back then it was actually yellow gold that was in vogue, but Jamsetji asked for pink gold -- making this a rare watch.

Perazzi was also part of the team that sold Mahatma Gandhi's Zenith pocket watch, John F Kennedy's Elgin, Jackie Kennedy's Cartier Tank, and EthiopianEmperor Haile Selassie's Patek Philippe.

Perazzi says Jamsetji's Patek Philippe is a "repeating chronograph hunter case presentation watch", and that very few watchmakers had the skill to make that sort of watch back then.

And that five-minute repeaters, one of the most complex repeater mechanisms, are sought after by fine watch collectors as masterpieces of precision mechanical engineering.

Adding to the watch's value of course is the fact that it was owned by Jamsetji Tata and custom-ordered by him.

Perazzi says that unfortunately we do not have records of Patek Philipperetail prices at the time, but that a five-minute Patek Philippe repeater currently goes for over $300,000.

Nor was Phillips able to trace the full story of the watch and what happened to it after Morris -- a watch's value is calculated by brand, the complexity of its movement mechanism, and provenance -- but, says Perazzi, what we do know is that it was kept safely in a wise collector's safe all these years.