PATEK PHILIPPE | REFERENCE 1578 'GM' A YELLOW GOLD WRISTWATCH COMMISSIONED FOR GENERAL MOTORS - GENERAL MOTORS OVERSEAS, MADE IN 1953

According to scholarship, in the mid 1950's General Motors, General Motors Overseas Operations began commissioning a special timepiece to be given to their top overseas executives upon their retirement. Each commissioned piece was engraved GMC-GMOO and the name of the recipient with their dates of service. Patek Philippe assigned an additional code to the standard reference number, 1578GM. The reference itself is quite modern for its time, with a larger diameter and highly attractive spider lugs to the case made by Wenger. Black dials, as seen on the present lot, were especially rare and offered for the series made for General Motors. Approximately 20 pieces were manufactured with special inscriptions to GMOO executives. A recent article on www.rescapement.com details the history of these important watches:   https://www.rescapement.com/blog/patek-philippe-and-general-motors-kicking-the-tires#:~:text=Patek%201578GM%3A%20Executive%20presence%20The%201578GM%20is%20a,numerals%20radially%20arranged%20at%203%2C%209%20and%2012.