Sharon Chan
International Director
Lot 856
PATEK PHILIPPE | REF.803, A VERY RARE YELLOW GOLD 1895 DOUBLE EAGLE COIN WATCH WITH CONCEALED DIAL, GIFTED TO HIS HIGHNESS TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN, FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA IN CELEBRATION OF HIS BIRTHDAY, CIRCA 1969
25 November 2025, 14:00 HKT
Hong Kong, Six Pacific PlaceHK$100,000 - HK$200,000
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Francisco Herrera
Specialist
Brian Chu
Senior Business Associate
Josephine Yim
Consultant
PATEK PHILIPPE | REF.803, A VERY RARE YELLOW GOLD 1895 DOUBLE EAGLE COIN WATCH WITH CONCEALED DIAL, GIFTED TO HIS HIGHNESS TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN, FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA IN CELEBRATION OF HIS BIRTHDAY, CIRCA 1969
Case/Movement No: 2'666,491/1'139'785
Calibre: 99P, manual winding, signed
Dial: Gilt, signed
Case: 35mm, 18k yellow gold, snap on case back with engraving celebrating the birthday of His Highness Tunku Abdul Rahman, first prime minister of Malaysia, signed
Accompaniments: Maker's Extract from the Archive and non-maker's yellow gold chain
Total watch weight approximately 80 grams.
手錶總重量約80克。
百達翡麗 | 803型號，黃金手動上弦1895年金幣錶，配隱藏式面盤，年份約1969。附原後補資料庫精萃及非原廠18k黃金錶鏈。
此珍稀懷錶錶身由1895年版美國20美元雙鷹金幣匠心打造，配備隱藏式錶盤，設計精緻神秘，饒富趣味。於1969年，此錶曾作為生日賀禮贈予被尊為「獨立之父」的馬來西亞第一任首相東姑阿都拉曼（Tunku Abdul Rahman），彰顯非凡來歷。
Calibre: 99P, manual winding, signed
Dial: Gilt, signed
Case: 35mm, 18k yellow gold, snap on case back with engraving celebrating the birthday of His Highness Tunku Abdul Rahman, first prime minister of Malaysia, signed
Accompaniments: Maker's Extract from the Archive and non-maker's yellow gold chain
Total watch weight approximately 80 grams.
手錶總重量約80克。
百達翡麗 | 803型號，黃金手動上弦1895年金幣錶，配隱藏式面盤，年份約1969。附原後補資料庫精萃及非原廠18k黃金錶鏈。
此珍稀懷錶錶身由1895年版美國20美元雙鷹金幣匠心打造，配備隱藏式錶盤，設計精緻神秘，饒富趣味。於1969年，此錶曾作為生日賀禮贈予被尊為「獨立之父」的馬來西亞第一任首相東姑阿都拉曼（Tunku Abdul Rahman），彰顯非凡來歷。
Footnotes
The Patek Philippe reference 803 is one of the more unusual and rare creations from the famed maison, featuring a 35mm timepiece forged from a United States $20 Double Eagle gold coin, circa 1895, emblazoned with Liberty's poised elegance and reverse bearing the vigilant bald eagle. The timepiece features a hinged bezel, triggered by a discreet thumb latch concealed in the reeded edge, unveiling a satin-finished gilt dial with blued feuille hands, all encased in an inner 18k yellow gold dust cover that safeguards the ultra-slim architecture.
Powered by the manual-winding Caliber 99P, a 17-jewel marvel with Geneva stripes and a swan-neck regulator, the Ref. 803 delivers precise hours, minutes, and subsidiary seconds at 6 o'clock, its 2.5mm-thick movement a testament to Patek's prewar precision engineering, it whispers reliability amid opulence, often retailed through Tiffany & Co. for discerning patrons from the 1950s to 1980s.
With fewer than 200 coin watches across Patek's 800-809 series, and only about 40 reference 803 examples ever traced, the true rarity of this timepiece cannot be understated. Yet adding to this is provenance that makes the current example truly one-of-a-kind. On the inner case back, the written engraving reveals that the watch was gifted, for his birthday on February 8th, 1969, to His Highness Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia and widely considered the founding father of the nation. Presented to him by the honorable Tun Datuk Toh Puan, the wife of Tun Mustafa bin Dato Harun, the first Chief Minister of Sabah, the watch stayed in his possession until 1976, when it was gifted to his granddaughter on her 16th birthday. It cannot be understated that this provenance truly elevates the current example to a museum level piece, with such historical significance to all Malaysians. Bonhams Hong Kong is honored to present this rare coin watch with its unprecedented historical significance to the public; a true rarity with a one-of-a-kind provenance from the great leader and father of Malaysia.