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Lot Essay
Accompanied by Patek Philippe original silvered matte dial with applied gold baton numerals and gold dauphine hands, 18K gold Patek Philippe buckle, Certificate of Origin dated 2 May 1988, Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch in 1988 and its subsequent sale on 24 February 1988. Furthermore delivered with original fitted burgundy leather presentation box with electrical winding facility.
The present watch has never been offered in public before.
Reference 3941 is possibly the rarest variant of the 3940 family of self-winding perpetual calendar wristwatches. Since the glazed backs were not numbered, Patek Philippe chose instead to apply the case number inside the upper case part, underneath the bezel. The present watch is one of less than 20 examples of reference 3941 to appear in public to date. Now offered at auction by its original owner, it is fresh to the market and still retains the original certificate. Another particularity is the dial, exchanged upon the owner's request from the standard silvered matte example to the present, porcelain-style version delivered with reference 3940.
Manufacture of references 3940 and 3941 was launched in 1985, the difference between the two reference numbers being their backs:
- ref. 3940: plain snap on back
- ref. 3941: glazed snap on back
To respond to their customers increasing demand for two backs, Patek Philippe produced the model as of around 1988 with both the plain and the glazed snap on back. Consequently, production of reference 3941 was discontinued in 1990.
The model is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, pp. 292 & 293.
The present watch has never been offered in public before.
Reference 3941 is possibly the rarest variant of the 3940 family of self-winding perpetual calendar wristwatches. Since the glazed backs were not numbered, Patek Philippe chose instead to apply the case number inside the upper case part, underneath the bezel. The present watch is one of less than 20 examples of reference 3941 to appear in public to date. Now offered at auction by its original owner, it is fresh to the market and still retains the original certificate. Another particularity is the dial, exchanged upon the owner's request from the standard silvered matte example to the present, porcelain-style version delivered with reference 3940.
Manufacture of references 3940 and 3941 was launched in 1985, the difference between the two reference numbers being their backs:
- ref. 3940: plain snap on back
- ref. 3941: glazed snap on back
To respond to their customers increasing demand for two backs, Patek Philippe produced the model as of around 1988 with both the plain and the glazed snap on back. Consequently, production of reference 3941 was discontinued in 1990.
The model is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, pp. 292 & 293.