Prince Mohammed Tewfik or Mohammed Tewfik Pasha was Khedive of Egypt from 1879 to 1892, succeeding his father, Khedive Ismāʿīl, as his eldest son. This was during the first phase of the British occupation of Egypt, and his father was removed from power for going against the interests of the British. Tewfik faced pressure from the British as anti-European sentiment grew in the country. It only got worse after the British bombed Alexandria in 1882, in an attempt to suppress the anti-colonial sentiment in Egypt at the time. This actually worked against the British and Tewfik lost power, leading the British to invade Egypt to return Tewfik to power, until his death in 1892. Apart from those political troubles, Tewfik was influential in modernizing Egypt’s political system, changing the legal system and instated the General Assembly and the Legislative Council. His grandson, Prince Tewfik Adil, was born in 1925 and spent a large part of his life as an academic in the United States, he only returned to Egypt in 2005 – bringing his Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 1518 with him. According to Sotheby’s, that sold the watch in 2021, the Patek Philippe ref. 1518 remained in his possession his entire life, and was only recently sold by his family.
Thus, on the horology side, his 1948 Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 1518, known for its pink dial and pink gold case, was sold in a Sotheby’s auction in October 2021 for almost $10 million! $9.57 million to be exact. This beautiful Patek Philippe ref. 1518 is powered by the Patek cal. 13'''130 Q that has 23 jewels, with its 18k pink gold case measuring 35 mm in diameter. The Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 1518 is so sought after for being the first perpetual calendar wristwatch when it was released in the early 1940s – a complication considered radical by some at the time – and for being so rare, with only 60 pink gold examples having been produced at all!
By: Andres Ibarguen
Read more:
“Muḥammad Tawfīq Pasha.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muhammad-Tawfiq-Pasha.
“Property from the Estate of Prince Mohammed Tewfik A. Toussoun of Egypt,” Sotheby’s, https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/important-watches-4/reference-1518-a-pink-gold-perpetual-calendar.