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Extremely Rare Piece — Owned by the Surgeon General That Guided Through the Spanish Flu Pandemic — is Up for Auction This Week

A Century-Old Patek Philippe is a Sign of the Times

BY Rebecca Sherman // 06.08.20

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Rupert Blue was United States Surgeon General from 1912 to 1920.

The historically significant Patek Philippe chronograph owned by U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue will be auctioned on June 9 at Heritage Auctions.

The 18K Patek Philippe pocket watch was a gift from the city of San Francisco to public health physician Rupert Blue for his service during multiple bubonic plague outbreaks there. Blue later became the United States Surgeon General. The inside dust cover is inscribed: “To Rupert Blue P.A. Surgeon, U.S.P.H. and M.H.S. from the citizens of San Francisco. In grateful recognition of services rendered the city while in command of the Sanitation Campaign of 1908.”

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Rupert Blue was United States Surgeon General from 1912 to 1920.

The 18K Patek Philippe pocket watch was a gift from the city of San Francisco to public health physician Rupert Blue for his service during multiple bubonic plague outbreaks there. Blue later became the United States Surgeon General. The inside dust cover is inscribed: “To Rupert Blue P.A. Surgeon, U.S.P.H. and M.H.S. from the citizens of San Francisco. In grateful recognition of services rendered the city while in command of the Sanitation Campaign of 1908.”

This auction couldn’t have been timed better.

As America struggles against the Covid-19 pandemic, we are reminded that 100 years earlier, a United States surgeon general named Rupert Blue successfully guided us through another horrific global outbreak, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.

On June 9, Heritage Auctions is offering a historically important chronograph owned by Blue at its Watches & Fine Timepieces Signature Auction sale.

The 18-karat gold Patek Philippe pocket watch was gifted to Blue in 1908 by the city of San Francisco, in gratitude for his service as a public health physician fighting bubonic plague outbreaks there. The inside dust cover is inscribed: “To Rupert Blue P.A. Surgeon, U.S.P.H. and M.H.S. from the citizens of San Francisco. In grateful recognition of services rendered the city while in command of the Sanitation Campaign of 1908.”

Blue was United States surgeon general from 1912 – 1920. He counseled Americans to follow many of the protocols that resonate in 2020, including wearing facial coverings, practicing social distancing, and temporarily closing schools and other establishments where large numbers of people gather.

The exquisitely crafted watch, which is estimated to have cost $1,000 when it was made in 1905, is expected to fetch $35,000 – $45,000 at the Heritage auction.