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Lot Essay
A significant new discovery offered here for the first time at auction, this superb white gold 3448 offers today’s collectors the very rare opportunity to obtain a superlative example of the highly desirable white gold cased reference 3448 complete with a Gay Frères for Patek Philippe bracelet. This watch is a truly stellar prize for collectors of the best complicated classic vintage Patek Philippe from the ‘golden era’ of production. Research by the leading Patek Philippe scholars has revealed that the present watch was exported to Empresa Brasilera in 1970.
STUDY OF REFERENCE 3448G
MOVEMENT NO. 1’119’120, CASE NO. 322’470
Dial
The solid gold dial was made by Stern Frères and has been subject to an extremely good renovation by Patek Philippe in the past during a servicing, probably in the 1970s or 1980s, it has developed the very pleasing lightly aged patina so prized by collectors of vintage Patek Philippe. The all-important silky finish has been preserved, a feature of these dials and indeed of the very best dials made by Stern Frères, called ‘satiné opalin’, it is associated with several of Patek Philippe’s complicated references of the period. The engraved enamelled signature and date of the month subsidiary dial are still completely original, the calendar window angles are sharp as expected and the three white gold hands are original hand-cut and finished and, of course, perfectly matching.
Case
Made by master casemaker Antoine Gerlach, it is constructed in three pieces in 18K white gold with snap-on bezel and back, the ‘Calatrava’ crown also in white gold. The central part is horizontally brushed and, on the side of the lugs, vertically brushed. The bezel, upper surface of the lugs and the sides of the case back are mirror polished. The hallmarks still visible on the back of the lugs.
Bracelet
Solid 18K white gold, made by the celebrated Geneva firm of Gay Frères for Patek Philippe, the present bracelet is stamped ‘1 57’, the date code for the first quarter of 1957. Although predating the watch by 13 years and not mentioned on the Extract from the Archives, this bracelet is quite possibly the one originally supplied upon request of the original owner in 1970. This type of superbly made heavy solid gold bracelet was extremely expensive at the time and sold only in small very numbers in white gold.
Movement
Made in 1970, calibre 27 460 Q (Q for Quantième), rhodiumed brass, based on a 27 460 Patek Philippe in-house movement, Gyromax balance, stamped twice with the Geneva Seal.
We are grateful to Eric Tortella for his assistance and study in researching this watch.
Reference 3448
Reference 3448, introduced into the market in 1962, was at the time the first self-winding perpetual calendar wristwatch. According to literature, a total of 586 examples were made, the majority in yellow gold cases. Only around 130 were cased in white gold, 2 in platinum and 1 in pink gold are known to exist to date.
Reference 3448 was fitted with the celebrated caliber 27-460, amongst the most sophisticated and lavish automatic movements ever made. It was later upgraded with Patek Philippe's patented perpetual mechanism fitted on the movement plate underneath the dial and renamed 27-460 Q.
Reference 3448 was available with four different dial styles:
-enamelled small baton minute divisions from 1962 to circa 1965
-beady minute divisions and small date ring from 1965 to circa 1973
-beady minute divisions and large date ring: 1971 to circa 1978
-printed, not enamelled small baton minute divisions: after 1978
In 1981, reference 3450 was introduced into the market with the improved 27'460 QB (Quantime Bissextile) caliber. The model differs from its predecessor by the modified leap year indication, the eccentric small window to 4 o'clock.
With the launch of reference 3940 in 1985, production of both references 3448 and 3450 was discontinued.
STUDY OF REFERENCE 3448G
MOVEMENT NO. 1’119’120, CASE NO. 322’470
Dial
The solid gold dial was made by Stern Frères and has been subject to an extremely good renovation by Patek Philippe in the past during a servicing, probably in the 1970s or 1980s, it has developed the very pleasing lightly aged patina so prized by collectors of vintage Patek Philippe. The all-important silky finish has been preserved, a feature of these dials and indeed of the very best dials made by Stern Frères, called ‘satiné opalin’, it is associated with several of Patek Philippe’s complicated references of the period. The engraved enamelled signature and date of the month subsidiary dial are still completely original, the calendar window angles are sharp as expected and the three white gold hands are original hand-cut and finished and, of course, perfectly matching.
Case
Made by master casemaker Antoine Gerlach, it is constructed in three pieces in 18K white gold with snap-on bezel and back, the ‘Calatrava’ crown also in white gold. The central part is horizontally brushed and, on the side of the lugs, vertically brushed. The bezel, upper surface of the lugs and the sides of the case back are mirror polished. The hallmarks still visible on the back of the lugs.
Bracelet
Solid 18K white gold, made by the celebrated Geneva firm of Gay Frères for Patek Philippe, the present bracelet is stamped ‘1 57’, the date code for the first quarter of 1957. Although predating the watch by 13 years and not mentioned on the Extract from the Archives, this bracelet is quite possibly the one originally supplied upon request of the original owner in 1970. This type of superbly made heavy solid gold bracelet was extremely expensive at the time and sold only in small very numbers in white gold.
Movement
Made in 1970, calibre 27 460 Q (Q for Quantième), rhodiumed brass, based on a 27 460 Patek Philippe in-house movement, Gyromax balance, stamped twice with the Geneva Seal.
We are grateful to Eric Tortella for his assistance and study in researching this watch.
Reference 3448
Reference 3448, introduced into the market in 1962, was at the time the first self-winding perpetual calendar wristwatch. According to literature, a total of 586 examples were made, the majority in yellow gold cases. Only around 130 were cased in white gold, 2 in platinum and 1 in pink gold are known to exist to date.
Reference 3448 was fitted with the celebrated caliber 27-460, amongst the most sophisticated and lavish automatic movements ever made. It was later upgraded with Patek Philippe's patented perpetual mechanism fitted on the movement plate underneath the dial and renamed 27-460 Q.
Reference 3448 was available with four different dial styles:
-enamelled small baton minute divisions from 1962 to circa 1965
-beady minute divisions and small date ring from 1965 to circa 1973
-beady minute divisions and large date ring: 1971 to circa 1978
-printed, not enamelled small baton minute divisions: after 1978
In 1981, reference 3450 was introduced into the market with the improved 27'460 QB (Quantime Bissextile) caliber. The model differs from its predecessor by the modified leap year indication, the eccentric small window to 4 o'clock.
With the launch of reference 3940 in 1985, production of both references 3448 and 3450 was discontinued.