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In January, Paul Boutros, deputy chairman and head of watches in the Americas at the auctioneer Phillips, opened his inbox to discover an email from the grandson of Paul Starrett, a master builder and trained architect who, together with his twin brother, was responsible for the construction, in 1931, of the Empire State Building. It was Boutros’s favorite kind of email: an unexpected, unsolicited tale of a watch—in this case, a rectangular yellow-gold Patek Philippe retailed by Tiffany & Co.—with remarkable provenance.

In the email, Starrett’s grandson “explained the story of the watch, that it was sitting in the family’s drawers for decades, unworn, and he was just seeing what it may be worth,” Boutros tells Robb Report. “He wanted to know if we were interested in auctioning it. As soon as I received it, I couldn’t believe the story, and I immediately called him.”

Boutros was able to see the watch in person during a trip to San Francisco in February, and the story only got better. “The watch looked very good in the pictures, but in the metal, I couldn’t believe how well preserved it was,” he says.

See for yourself—the timepiece, lot 27 in Phillips’s upcoming New York Watch Auction, is available for viewing June 10-12 at the auctioneer’s Park Avenue headquarters in advance of the sale, which takes place June 13-14. Estimated at $15,000-30,000, it’s a fine example of the intersection of 20th-century horology and history.

“Patek Philippe issued an extract to us confirming it was made in 1929 and sold in November 1930, during the Great Depression,” Boutros says.

The watch, which bears a Tiffany & Co. dial and a case and movement signed by Patek, Philippe & Co., was delivered a week after the Empire State Building’s mooring mast was erected and most of the façade had been completed, a little over five months before the building officially opened on May 1, 1931.

“The dates line up,” Boutros says. “Starrett had just received his first major payment for the building. Tiffany & Co. was on 37th Street and Fifth Avenue back then. So he was just a couple of blocks away, on 34th Street. My belief is he wanted something to commemorate his big payday. He went to Tiffany, saw this probably in the display or maybe he ordered it.”

The watch was kept safe by Starrett’s family for decades, and its condition testifies to that. “There’s no real degradation to the dial,” Boutros says. “It’s so clean—completely original with gorgeous applied Breguet gold numerals. There are some minor signs of aging from the environment, but all of the beautiful floral engravings on the side of the case and the lugs are perfectly crisp and intact. It’s never seen a polishing. Just perfect condition, like a dream.”

Boutros notes Starrett chose a period bracelet in gold mesh to complement the watch’s oversized Art Deco gold case, comparable in style to those made by the famed Brazilian retailer, Chronometro Gondolo. “The bracelet was made by Whiteside and Blank, a prestigious jeweler based in Newark, New Jersey, who made jewelry and watches for jewelers around the United States,” Boutros says. “But their most prominent partner was Tiffany and Co. Just like Patek Philippe.”

The fact that the watch has surfaced this year—the 95th anniversary of the opening of the Empire State Building and the 250^th anniversary of the nation’s founding—adds historical gravitas to the sale and serves as the perfect footnote to Starrett’s biography, says Boutros.

“The Empire State Building was built in the depths of the Great Depression by the man who owned Starrett Brothers,” he says. “Not only did he build it beautifully, he built it ahead of schedule and under budget in about 18 months. Can you imagine building something so fast? The man was really a great American. And, of course, this is the 250th anniversary of the United States. I felt the timing was perfect for this wonderful New York story. But Paul Starrett not only built the Empire State Building, he built the Flatiron Building, another iconic building in Manhattan. He built the Plaza Hotel, which continues to be a draw to tourists. He built Penn Station, where millions upon millions of people transit through every year. He built the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. This really accomplished man chose this particular watch and took amazing care of it. You can imagine he wore it at the groundbreaking ceremony when the Empire State Building was opened in 1931.”

Indeed, you can. But if there’s any doubt, just look to the caseback, which is dominated by the initials “P” and “S.” “There is much greater acceptance of initials on vintage pieces than modern watches,” Boutros explains. “With a modern watch, people want their own history. But with a vintage watch that’s lived for decades, they love the charm of engraved initials. And if someone is fortunate enough to be interested in this watch and to have the same initials, then it’s fate for them to go after it.”