Patek Philippe Ref. 5250 to be auctioned

New York—An extremely rare Patek Philippe expected to fetch more than $120,000 is the featured item in Heritage Auctions' upcoming "Signature Fine Timepieces Auction," the auction house has announced.The Patek Philippe Advance Research Ref. 5250 timepiece being auctioned is one of only of 100 ever made by the legendary watchmaker. When unveiled in 2005, the Ref. 5250 was viewed as a milestone in the development of timepieces because it was the first watch to incorporate a friction-free silicium escape wheel. Silicium is anti-magnetic, super-smooth, super-hard, super-light and does not corrode.The timepiece, according to Geneva-based watch trade magazine Europa Star, placed an emphasis on eliminating the need for lubrication, achieving what was regarded as the "holy grail" of watch making. Subsequent models, such as the Patek Philippe Ref. 5350 and Ref. 5450 developed the concept even further, but Patek Philippe produced only 100 of the Ref. 5250 watches, labeling the batch a "test run."The Signature Fine Timepieces Auction is scheduled for Saturday at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion (Ukranian Institute) in New York City.Other timepieces up for auction include an ultra-rare Ref. 6263 gold "Paul Newman" oyster cosmograph Rolex watch circa 1976, one of the most coveted Rolexes on the market and anticipated to garner more than $120,000.In addition, a collection of Omega Speedmaster Missions Collection timepieces, named after the series of watches the company crafted for NASA astronauts to wear in space, is being offered. The set of 23 chronograph watches, Special Edition No. 22/40, made to celebrate the Speedmaster Professional's 40th anniversary in 2005, carries an estimate of more than $90,000.The top pocket watch in the auction is a rare Waltham Premier Maximus 18-karat gold pocket watch circa 1909. It is estimated at more than $12,000.Headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, Heritage Auctions has annual sales of more than $600 million with more than 500,000 online registered bidder members.