Grande complication pocket watch · Switzerland
Patek Philippe Graves Supercomplication
Partially verifiedCommissioned by American banker Henry Graves Jr., reportedly in a competition of horological one-upmanship with fellow collector James Ward Packard; the rivalry narrative is widely repeated in auction-house and company materials and is treated here as documented commercial history rather than independently re-verified primary correspondence.
Technical facts
- Complications
- 24 complications including a celestial chart of the New York night sky as seen from Graves's residence
- Case
- Gold, double open-face hunter form
- Development time
- Approximately eight years of design and construction, per Patek Philippe's published account
Historical significance
- Commissioned by American banker Henry Graves Jr., reportedly in a competition of horological one-upmanship with fellow collector James Ward Packard; the rivalry narrative is widely repeated in auction-house and company materials and is treated here as documented commercial history rather than independently re-verified primary correspondence.
- Held the title of most complicated portable mechanical timepiece for decades after its completion.
- Sold at Sotheby's in 2014 for a widely reported price; specific auction prices should always be cited with the sale house, date and currency rather than repeated as a bare figure, since currency conversions and 'record price' framing vary between reports.
Background
The Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication, designated no. 198.385, is a mechanical pocket watch created by Patek Philippe for the banker Henry Graves, Jr. The watch was commissioned in 1925 and required eight years to finish, consisting of three years for design and five years for manufacturing. While it was famously associated with a rivalry against James Ward Packard, this narrative is considered apocryphal and may have been a later publicity stunt. The timepiece is notable for being constructed without the use of computer technology.
Written from the encyclopedia entries listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited text.
Construction and mechanism
- The gold, double-dialled timepiece features 24 complications including Westminster chimes, a perpetual calendar, and a celestial map of New York.
- The watch contains 920 individual parts that were handcrafted on a tiny scale.
- The celestial chart is calibrated for the nighttime sky of New York City at 40 degrees 41.0 minutes North latitude.
- The watch has a diameter of 74 millimetres and weighs 536 grams.
Later history
- After Henry Graves Jr. passed away in 1953, the watch was inherited by his daughter and later sold to the founder of the Time Museum in 1969.
- The watch was later auctioned at Sotheby's in 1999 and subsequently exhibited at the Patek Philippe Museum from 2001 to 2005.
- Following the death of its owner, Sheikh Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani, the watch was sold in Geneva on November 11, 2014.
Photographs
Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.
Sources & references
- Patek Philippe Henry Graves Supercomplication, Wikipedia (English), retrieved 2026-10-28 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Patek Philippe Museum, published history of the Graves Supercomplication
- Sotheby's, sale catalogue and press materials for the 2014 sale (for auction facts specifically)
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.