The Flanders Panel (1990)

Arturo Pérez-Reverte's novel was first published in Spanish in 1990 as La tabla de Flandes and in English in 1994 in Margaret Jull Costa's translation, read here in the 1997 Harvill paperback. Julia, a Madrid picture restorer, finds a hidden inscription, Quis necavit equitem, beneath the paint of a 1471 panel by the Flemish painter Van Huys showing two men at chess, and the question of who killed the knight becomes a chess problem that a modern murderer begins to play out. (Open Library)

Watches

Omega (unidentified model): Over drinks in a café, the gallery owner Menchu shows Julia the X-ray photographs of the Van Huys and plays to two young men at the next table. Julia, a touch irritated, looks at the square-faced Omega she wears on the inside of her left wrist; it is much too early, she thinks, to be showing off one's best underwear. Wearing the watch face-in on the inside of the wrist is her habit, not a detail of the watch. The maker is named and the case described as square; the model is not named.

Source text: She looked at the square-faced Omega watch she wore on the inside of her left wrist. (Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Flanders Panel, scan cataloged as Harvill Press, 1997, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, p. 10; the OCR reads "wnst" for "wrist"; Internet Archive scan OCR)

Patek Philippe watch: Julia tells everything, hidden inscription included, to the antique dealer César as they sit by a stained-glass window. He leans towards her, legs crossed, one hand with its topaz set in gold draped over the Patek Philippe he wears on his other wrist, the distinguished pose that captivates the young artists he takes under his wing. The maker is named; the model is not.

Source text: Cesar was leaning slightly towards her, his right leg crossed over his left, one hand, on which gleamed a valuable topaz set in gold, draped nonchalantly over the Patek Philippe watch he wore on his other wrist. (Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Flanders Panel, scan cataloged as Harvill Press, 1997, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, p. 32; the OCR prints the name without its accent; Internet Archive scan OCR)

Rolex watch: Paco Montegrifo, director of the Madrid branch of Claymore's auction house, talks with Julia after the panel has been stolen from her apartment, full of the publicity the case has brought and a second Van Huys his New York colleagues are negotiating for. He looks at the Rolex on his wrist, almost seven o'clock, and proposes supper to celebrate. The maker is named; the model is not.

Source text: “I thought we might celebrate.” He looked at the Rolex on his wrist. (Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Flanders Panel, scan cataloged as Harvill Press, 1997, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, p. 239; Internet Archive scan OCR)