The 18-karat gold Patek Philippe Belonging to Dr. Rupert Blue Who Guided U.S. Through 1918 Pandemic was part of Dallas-based Heritage Auctions’ Watches & Fine Timepieces Auction.
In 1918, when the United States was fighting the bubonic pandemic, Rupert Blue served as Surgeon General from the citizens of San Francisco hospital. Blue practiced then reverberates in every caution uttered now during Covid-19: The Bubonic disease was spreading over the United States was highly catchable. Dr. Blue warned that it will invade every community and everyone unless people are taking extreme safety measures.
Even back in those days, the practice of facial masks and sanitization was the practice that saved many lives. A true reflection to what we are experiencing during Covid-19
According to Heritage Auction, the largest collectibles auctioneer and third largest auction house in the world:
In the midst of Spanish influenza’s return and resurgence in the fall of 1918, Blue instructed everyone to wear facial coverings and counselled governments to shutter schools and churches. He, too, advised of social distancing long before it became a term of art. “Keep out of crowds as much as possible,” the doctor advised Americans.
Just 50 years old at the time influenza ravaged this country, Blue was already a veteran of numerous epidemics — most famously, the Bubonic plague that twice swept through San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. It was Blue who believed the only way to cure the disease was to understand how it spread and who it impacted — which was too often the very Chinese immigrants wrongly blamed for its rise.
“The citizens of San Francisco spared no expense when choosing this timepiece as a token of gratitude,” said Heritage Auctions Watches & Fine Timepieces Director Jim Wolf. “It was a first-quality, highly complicated watch by the most accomplished maker, and it would have cost a handsome sum — close to $1,000 when manufactured in 1905. The current owner had the foresight and good judgement to have this watch fully serviced by Patek Philippe, at their highest standard of workmanship, before placing it in an auction.”
On Tuesday, June 9th at auction, the timepiece sold for $50,000 topping its high estimate by $5,000.
