Unravelling the mystery of the Patek Philippe ‘Senza Luna’ reference 3448
With the rediscovery of an exceptional white gold ‘Senza Luna’ — movement no. 1’119’585, coming to auction on 13 November — the Christie’s Watches department delves into the enigma behind this legendary Patek Philippe timepiece
How many ‘Senza Luna’ Patek Philippe watches are known to exist?
So what do we know about ‘Senza Luna’ timepieces?
What has sparked the recent upsurge in interest?
Patek Philippe. An exceptional and historically important 18K white gold automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch without moon phases, Signed Patek Philippe, Genève, ref. 3448, movement no. 1’119’585, case no. 332’625, manufactured in 1981, with: 18k white gold Patek Philippe buckle, Extract from The Archives confirming production of the present watch in 1981 with an 18k white gold case, silvered dial with applied white gold indexes, without moon phase disc and its subsequent sale on 28 January 1982. Case: snap on back, 37 mm diam, signed. Estimate: CHF 300,000-500,000. This lot is offered in Rare Watches on 13 November 2017 at Christie’s in Geneva
Excitement then hit fever pitch over the summer of 2017 with confirmed proof from Patek Philippe of the ‘Senza Luna’, which led to the revealing of the Extract from the Archives of the white gold 3448 Senza Luna movement no. 1’119’202 at the Christie’s Patek Philippe exhibition in New York.
For the first time the public was able to see documented evidence of a ‘Senza Luna’ from Patek Philippe with the extract stating that movement number 1’119’202 ‘does not include a moon phase function’.
Why is this moonless dial type so mysterious?
As far as is known from existing extracts from the archives, the majority of watches known publicly with ‘Senza Luna’ dials are originally described as having a moon phase indication. It is therefore assumed that all were later modified. The question is: were they born with ‘Senza Luna’ dials, or later modified?
What are the theories behind it?
So what do we know about the watch coming to auction, Movement No. 1’119’585?
Patek Philippe’s Extract from the Archives confirming that watch mvt 1’119’585 was indeed made without a moonphase disc — the first time since the confirmation of the ‘Banbery Senza Luna’ that Patek Philippe has made an explicit statement regarding the existence of the moonless dials
The extract further confirms that this self-winding perpetual calendar watch was produced with a silvered dial, made in 1981, and originally sold in 1982. It renders the ‘Senza Luna’ offered in Geneva one of the rarest of all Patek Philippe ‘prototype’ watches ever made.
Do we know whether the watch was modified by Patek Philippe?
The next consecutive movement number 1’119’586 was the first ever watch of the reference 3450, also of course made in 1981. That particular watch (sold by Christie’s on 12 May 2014, below) was, significantly, a highly unusual and possibly unique ‘hybrid’ — being the first reference 3450, but still fitted with the caliber 27-460 Q of the reference 3448. It therefore did not have the leap-year indication that typifies the reference 3450, which was from then on fitted with the next generation 27-460 QB (Quantième Bissextile) with ‘red dot’ or Roman leap-year indication.
Patek Philippe. A very fine, extremely rare and historically important 18K gold automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch with moon phases, Signed Patek Philippe, Genève, ref. 3450, movement no. 1'119'586, case no. 2'788'611, manufactured in 1981. 37.5 mm diam. Sold for CHF 287,000 on 12 May 2014 at Christie’s in Geneva
Why are these movement numbers so important?
Lending credence to this theory, the present watch was not sold until the end of January 1982, meaning that for at least several months it remained in the factory workshops, hence allowing plenty of time for modifications to take place before its sale.
Patek Philippe made several watches with perpetual calendar modifications (with/without moon, with/without leap-year indication etc.) based around the 3448 and new 3450 cases during this period. Apparently these pieces were one-offs and occasionally special orders used to gauge market potential for watches being considered for development.