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拍品專文
Selected with unerring taste and a desire to obtain the very best specimens of great classic Patek Philippe references, the owner of the Ultimate Collection chose this simply spectacular Gübelin double-signed reference 3448 in yellow gold.
With traceable auction provenance going back to 1988, it first impresses with its completely untouched beautifully preserved dial with perfectly clear signatures of both Patek Philippe and Gübelin. The superb original silky finish is a feature of the very best dials made by Stern Frères, called ‘satiné opalin’. The exceptionally sharp and crisp case appears to have hardly ever been worn and probably never polished, it retains full proportions and a wonderful overall honesty and originality. With four perfectly crisp hallmarks, including the one on the caseback, this formidable example of a reference 3448 will impress even the most exacting purist collector and those who appreciate untouched honesty in one of the great Patek Philippe references more than 40 years after it was made.
The present watch is not only an exemplary specimen of a 3448, its rarity is dramatically increased by the double signed dial for the prestigious retailer Gübelin. Indeed, only 12 examples of reference 3448 are known publicly bearing the magical Gübelin signature. The Gübelin archive registers confirm that this watch was sold on 5th June, 1980.
Amazingly preserved after decades of minimal use, this reference 3448 epitomizes the combination of rarity and condition that is so desired and highly prized by collectors today.
Provenance
Antiquorum New York, 7 December 1988, lot 138.
Reference 3448
Introduced into the market in 1962, reference 3448 was the first automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch produced in series by any manufacturer.
According to scholarship, a total of 586 examples were made, the majority in yellow gold cases.
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 QB. The cases were made by Antoine Gerlach, specialised case-maker for ‘Calatrava’ and ‘modern’ shape cases for Patek Philippe, for instance the pocket watch ref. 844 or the ref. 3445 mono-date wrist-watch.
This model is the perfect embodiment of a transitional period in the evolution of watchmaking design. Wristwatches had moved from the flamboyant cases and multi-tone sector dials of the 1920s and 1930s, to the military-flavoured creations of the 1940s, with telemeter and tachymeter railroad scales. With the 1950s and 60s a new trend took shape: the technological advances of the time inspired, in all fields of design, futuristic shapes and cleaner looks. This watch perfectly epitomizes such trend: the dial is pared-down to the extreme, a remarkable feat of design considered that, after all, this is still a perpetual calendar with moon phases and as such the amount of information that the dial has to display is quite substantial. The case is a triumph of clean looks and sharp edges: the circular polished case with flat satin-finished band and generous sloping blank bezel looks decades away from the construction of previous models.
As standard, reference 3448 can be found with four kinds of dial over the period of its production:
-with enamelled small baton minute divisions (1962 to 1965)
-with beady minute divisions and small date ring (1965 to 1972)
-with beady minute divisions and large date ring (1971 to 1978)
-with printed (not enamelled) small baton minute divisions after 1978
E. Gübelin
Gübelin was founded in 1854 and has always been a family enterprise. Located in Lucerne, Switzerland, the renowned company has designed and retailed superior quality watches and clocks ever since. Today, Gübelin has branches throughout Europe.
Literature Reference 3448 is illustrated in: Patek Philippe Museum - Patek Philippe Watches - Volume II, p. 296.
Patek Philippe Wristwatches, Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 288.
Ref. 3448 is also illustrated in: Blue Book 1, by
Eric Tortella, 2018 edition, pp. 540 to 581.
Ore d'Oro, Jader Barracca, Giampiero Negretti and Franco Nencini, p. 45.
With traceable auction provenance going back to 1988, it first impresses with its completely untouched beautifully preserved dial with perfectly clear signatures of both Patek Philippe and Gübelin. The superb original silky finish is a feature of the very best dials made by Stern Frères, called ‘satiné opalin’. The exceptionally sharp and crisp case appears to have hardly ever been worn and probably never polished, it retains full proportions and a wonderful overall honesty and originality. With four perfectly crisp hallmarks, including the one on the caseback, this formidable example of a reference 3448 will impress even the most exacting purist collector and those who appreciate untouched honesty in one of the great Patek Philippe references more than 40 years after it was made.
The present watch is not only an exemplary specimen of a 3448, its rarity is dramatically increased by the double signed dial for the prestigious retailer Gübelin. Indeed, only 12 examples of reference 3448 are known publicly bearing the magical Gübelin signature. The Gübelin archive registers confirm that this watch was sold on 5th June, 1980.
Amazingly preserved after decades of minimal use, this reference 3448 epitomizes the combination of rarity and condition that is so desired and highly prized by collectors today.
Provenance
Antiquorum New York, 7 December 1988, lot 138.
Reference 3448
Introduced into the market in 1962, reference 3448 was the first automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch produced in series by any manufacturer.
According to scholarship, a total of 586 examples were made, the majority in yellow gold cases.
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 QB. The cases were made by Antoine Gerlach, specialised case-maker for ‘Calatrava’ and ‘modern’ shape cases for Patek Philippe, for instance the pocket watch ref. 844 or the ref. 3445 mono-date wrist-watch.
This model is the perfect embodiment of a transitional period in the evolution of watchmaking design. Wristwatches had moved from the flamboyant cases and multi-tone sector dials of the 1920s and 1930s, to the military-flavoured creations of the 1940s, with telemeter and tachymeter railroad scales. With the 1950s and 60s a new trend took shape: the technological advances of the time inspired, in all fields of design, futuristic shapes and cleaner looks. This watch perfectly epitomizes such trend: the dial is pared-down to the extreme, a remarkable feat of design considered that, after all, this is still a perpetual calendar with moon phases and as such the amount of information that the dial has to display is quite substantial. The case is a triumph of clean looks and sharp edges: the circular polished case with flat satin-finished band and generous sloping blank bezel looks decades away from the construction of previous models.
As standard, reference 3448 can be found with four kinds of dial over the period of its production:
-with enamelled small baton minute divisions (1962 to 1965)
-with beady minute divisions and small date ring (1965 to 1972)
-with beady minute divisions and large date ring (1971 to 1978)
-with printed (not enamelled) small baton minute divisions after 1978
E. Gübelin
Gübelin was founded in 1854 and has always been a family enterprise. Located in Lucerne, Switzerland, the renowned company has designed and retailed superior quality watches and clocks ever since. Today, Gübelin has branches throughout Europe.
Literature Reference 3448 is illustrated in: Patek Philippe Museum - Patek Philippe Watches - Volume II, p. 296.
Patek Philippe Wristwatches, Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 288.
Ref. 3448 is also illustrated in: Blue Book 1, by
Eric Tortella, 2018 edition, pp. 540 to 581.
Ore d'Oro, Jader Barracca, Giampiero Negretti and Franco Nencini, p. 45.