Patek Philippe Naviquartz II & III Clocks: How to Set and Change Batteries

Welcome to Collectability. Today we are going to discuss Patek Philippe clocks. Specifically, we're going to discuss the Navicorts. But in order to understand the Navicorts clocks, you have to go back a few years. During the 1940s, Patek Philippe started an electronics division focused specifically on atomic clock keeping, electronic clock keeping, and really trying to lay the foundation for the use of quartz into the future. This was very early in the post-war period for the company to be digging into this. And they made some huge, huge discoveries and leaps and bounds. And in fact, by 1950, Patek Philippe was able to make a clock which was fully made without moving parts and electronically be used as a timekeeper. And that's pictured here in this brochure from 1950. You can see the gentleman working on the timekeeping. This article is from the Journal of Horology. And you can just see how groundbreaking this technology was for the time. Because for the first time in history, mechanical parts weren't used in order to tell time. So this was a very groundbreaking part of Patek Philippe's history. By the 1960s, Patek Philippe was promoting worldwide their electronic timekeeping. And some pictures here of some of their earlier clocks. And in later episodes, we'll discuss in great detail their dome clocks and some of the table clocks that were made. But it wasn't until the 1970s that the Navicorts was born. And this is kind of like the final evolution of 20th century Patek Philippe timekeeping. They were making numerous electronic clocks for use in yachts and boats, specifically for longitude as a backup system. But all of a sudden, Patek Philippe saw a marketing opportunity that they could actually sell these clocks directly to individuals to have on their desk as status symbols. And you can see this brochure from the 1970s. It says, So you can take the clocks from your boat and put them in your office and enjoy this objet wherever you are. And these are works of art in the purest sense. But no one's really dug deep and appreciated them for their horological value. We don't have time for that today, but we are going to briefly try to get two of them running that I have not had the chance to batteries in yet. And I'm going to show you how you put a battery inside a Navicorts, and we'll see if we can get these ticking again. So you often see these show up at auction, and you just don't know if they run or not. So the first thing you want to ask at auction is for a condition report, so at least get an opinion to see if it's still in working condition. You can send them back to Patek Philippe Geneva, and they will service them. And it's recommended every five to ten years to have that done. They were built with these beautiful custom wood boxes, and when you open up the box, you can slip out the movement itself. And this example that I recently purchased actually has the original Navicorts instructions, which I highly recommend reading because here's another example of that set of instructions. It tells you in great detail how everything works. So once you have the Navicorts out, the batteries go right in here. I find the easiest way to open it up is with a quarter. Carefully unscrew it. These were meant to be water resistant, which is why it has this very robust system for the battery compartment. Okay, once that comes off, take three D batteries and gently put these in plus side down, and they sit right into the compartment. And then go back and screw this back into the canister, and then you tighten it with the quarter. And if you're lucky, it'll start ticking. Yeah, bingo. Now setting it is where the next step comes in. Use your handy dandy quarter to loosen the back. This opens up another compartment. And there are four units or setting devices that you need to know about here. So here is the the technical names for the the setting mechanisms. Here is the the frequency control device. So this is essentially the fast slow. Here at the top, you pull this out and you're able to set the clock as so. So let's check what time it is. So it is now 2 p.m. So you pull that out, twist it, go right to 2 p.m. And the part that's very interesting that I never realized is this. This is essentially a hack feature, but it also has a fast forward function too in the back of the clock. So when you're trying to set it to the exact second, you press that button down and the clock just stops. If you hold it in the center, then the clock just goes forward normally. But this is very cool. You lift it up and it goes fast forward. And I'll show that to you so you could see it. So down is the hack to have it stop. Middle is normal functioning. And pushing it up is the fast forward so that you're able to hit it exactly to the second. So checking the time, I'm going to hit the hack here and now. So now the clock is perfectly set for the time. Batteries should be changed once per year. I also encourage if you buy one of these to request an extract from the archives from Patek Philippe. The bottom number here is the movement number for each individual piece. The series, this is an E1200. And it actually has the instructions of how to set everything. It's directly on the back of the clock. So once you close it up, you're able to put it back inside the wooden box. You put that on your desk and you have a Navicorts 2 to keep time indefinitely. So you have to change the battery again every year. But here at Collectability, we don't stop now. We go on to the Navicorts 3 to see the next evolution of how these clocks work. Now, it's fun to note in the marketing brochures from the 70s, you'll see pictures of the Navicorts 3, which are dated May 1st, 1974. And it says to HS. And indeed, it was to Henry Stern. And this is Henry Stern's example of a Navicorts 3 that I believe is still with the family. On the Navicorts 3 that I have here with me, the plaque has not been yet engraved. So this is a bit different. This is moving away from a true boating clock, which would be used for navigation. This is a fun clock to have on your desk. There's a different system in terms of setting it. And I'm going to explain shortly what this button is and this little gauge is too. And it might not be what you expect. So first, in order to open this, you push the bottom button and it opens up such as this. You'll see a plaque right here on this black piece, which is the movement number. And then to open it up, it's as simple as unscrewing this unit here. And you see this very simple quartz movement, which interestingly was the highest technology imaginable for the 1970s. So don't let the looks underestimate its historical importance. When you find one in great condition, you just need to have it. Now, to get it running, you take out this little unit here, which says for mercury cell only, slips right out. And then you take a AA battery. You'll see where it says plus minus. And you put it in and you just hope that it runs. I hear some ticking. So let's take a look. First, we'll close this up. There it is. It's running again. Now, to set it, it's the same as on the other NaviQuartz. There's the nib that you pull out to set it. But I wanted to show you what happens when you push this button. Many say this is a hack feature. Pretty much every auction catalog out there says it's a hack feature. That's incorrect. What this is, is a battery power indicator. And you'll see on the bottom right, it has that red line. When I press this, it's going to turn green. The red line will twist to show the battery is full. Let's see if it still works with this example. Ah, bingo. Now the red line went to the green. The gas tank is now full. This clock is ready to go for another year. And that is how you get a NaviQuartz running again.