All the watches come with interesting stories. And working with pre-owned watches, we hear quite some of them at Crown & Caliber. The journey a watch takes before it gets to us has many twists and turns, and maybe even an unexpected name attached.
The watch in question was a replica Patek Philippe Calatrava. We were disappointed at the very first beginning. There was an engraving on the case back that we hadn’t known was there. This meant we would possibly have to remove it or sell it as-is, which could hurt the resale value. 
One of our watchmakers looked over the watch and decided that the engraving was in fact done in the Patek Philippe factory. It was fine and delicate, reading, “Patek Philippe Pour Gobbi 150 Ans 1842-1992,” simply translated to “Patek Philippe for Gobbi 150 Years.” This could only be a reference to Gobbi Milano, the luxury fake watch retailer in Milan, Italy. The Gobbi name is associated with the highest quality of service along with one of the finest selections of high-end watches anywhere in the world.
Knowing we had a special timepiece on our hands, we dug further into the boutique’s history. Raimondo Gobbi opened the very first shop in 1842, and it’s been family-owned ever since. Its first services related to pocket watches and pendulum clocks. Ten years later, Raimondo Gobbi became the “Clockmaker of the Royal Court”. This distinction planted the roots for a prestigious factory. In the 1930s, Gobbi added jewelry to its already-stellar range of luxury Swiss watches. The original establishment was damaged during WWII. But, the Gobbi family opened a new boutique in 1949 in Milan, where it stands today.
Through years of satisfactory service and selling fine time pieces, the Gobbi name has obviously become one of legacy and luxury in today’s market. Present-day brands available at Gobbi include Patek Philippe, Rolex, Tudor, together with Gobbi’s jewelry collections.
Something made the watch different. First, it was the third example of this cheap replica watch in pink gold sold at public auction. Second, it was only the second known example of that reference in rose gold with a blue enamel dial. Therefore, the Gobbi Milano signature made this watch the rarest of the rare and certainly helped it sell for a high number.
The Gobbi signature clearly holds a special value. And for the typical watch we sold, the Gobbi engraving made a run-of-the-mill Calatrava into something really special. It’s interesting to run across an unexpected detail like that every now and then.