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Lot Essay
With Patek Philippe Certificate of Origin dated 12-2-1990 and stamped by the retailer Ole Mathiesen, user manual for ref. 3970 & 3971, booklet, 18K white gold and wooden setting pin, fitted veneered presentation box and outer packaging. Also accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch with silvery opaline-white dial and white gold numerals in 1989 and its subsequent sale on 11 October 1989.
Fresh to the market, the present reference 3970 is a highly collectable specimen within the model's overall production which lasted for nearly twenty years. Examples of the second series are characterized by a screw back, versus the snap on version of first series, as well as the dial configuration where the two subsidiary dials are in the same colour than the surrounding main plate. Mostly produced in yellow gold, only few examples were produced in pink gold and platinum, the rarest version being the present one in white gold. To date, only two examples of the second series in white gold have been offered publicly, including the present one.
Reference 3970 was in production from 1986 until 2004 when it was replaced by reference 5970. The model is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second édition, p. 305.
Fresh to the market, the present reference 3970 is a highly collectable specimen within the model's overall production which lasted for nearly twenty years. Examples of the second series are characterized by a screw back, versus the snap on version of first series, as well as the dial configuration where the two subsidiary dials are in the same colour than the surrounding main plate. Mostly produced in yellow gold, only few examples were produced in pink gold and platinum, the rarest version being the present one in white gold. To date, only two examples of the second series in white gold have been offered publicly, including the present one.
Reference 3970 was in production from 1986 until 2004 when it was replaced by reference 5970. The model is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second édition, p. 305.