Fresh to market, a mint condition 1958 Patek Philippe wristwatch with royal provenance and never-before seen design attributes — offered in the Rare Watches & Important Discoveries sale on 16 December in New York. ‘The Pearl of Bahrain’, an extraordinary Patek Philippe with reference 2573 in rose gold with natural seed pearl hour markers on a pink starburst dial, is one of those beyond-exciting moments.’ Blending extraordinary and never-before seen design attributes, royal provenance, and mint condition, and accompanied by a Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the watch with pearl hour markers in 1958 and its subsequent sale on 26 June the following year, the ‘The Pearl of Bahrain’ is fresh to the market. An original Stern Frères archive image shows a 2573 in the same configuration — perhaps the exact same watch. The image had circulated among elite watch experts for many years, with corresponding speculation of who...