.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
With Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch with gold bracelet in 1974 and its subsequent sale on 24 April 1975.
Consigned by a descendant of the original owner, this watch has never been offered in public before.
Reference 3448 has been a child of the early 1960s and its design was very architectural, angular and smooth, reflecting in many ways the taste of that decade. A decade after its launch the white gold version was added to the production but further variants remained available throughout its 20 years of production.
It is thanks to this model's clean and timeless case proportions that It adapts so easily to different periods and surroundings. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that in its current "dash-eight" version with the integrated heavy gold bracelet it becomes an epitome of 1970s design. In fact, throughout the 1970's, Patek Philippe made available ref. 3448 with a large number and varied choice of gold bracelets to complete this flagship model. The present example, fresh to the market and only the fourth known watch of this variant to have survived, must probably be considered the most lavish and fanciful representative of this family.
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. Few watches have been cased in white gold and only two examples in platinum are known to date.
Reference 3448 was fitted with the celebrated calibre 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. In 1981, reference 3450 was introduced into the market with the improved 27'460 QB (Quantième Bissextile) calibre. The model differs from its predecessor by the modified leap year indication, the eccentric small window to 4 o'clock. The first series was made with a simple red disk and Arabic numerals, the second with Roman I, II, III and IIII leap year indication.
With the launch of reference 3940 in 1985, production of both references 3448 and 3450 was discontinued.
Reference 3448 is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 288 and in Ore d'Oro by Jader Barracca, Giampiero Negretti and Franco Nencini, p. 45.
Consigned by a descendant of the original owner, this watch has never been offered in public before.
Reference 3448 has been a child of the early 1960s and its design was very architectural, angular and smooth, reflecting in many ways the taste of that decade. A decade after its launch the white gold version was added to the production but further variants remained available throughout its 20 years of production.
It is thanks to this model's clean and timeless case proportions that It adapts so easily to different periods and surroundings. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that in its current "dash-eight" version with the integrated heavy gold bracelet it becomes an epitome of 1970s design. In fact, throughout the 1970's, Patek Philippe made available ref. 3448 with a large number and varied choice of gold bracelets to complete this flagship model. The present example, fresh to the market and only the fourth known watch of this variant to have survived, must probably be considered the most lavish and fanciful representative of this family.
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. Few watches have been cased in white gold and only two examples in platinum are known to date.
Reference 3448 was fitted with the celebrated calibre 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. In 1981, reference 3450 was introduced into the market with the improved 27'460 QB (Quantième Bissextile) calibre. The model differs from its predecessor by the modified leap year indication, the eccentric small window to 4 o'clock. The first series was made with a simple red disk and Arabic numerals, the second with Roman I, II, III and IIII leap year indication.
With the launch of reference 3940 in 1985, production of both references 3448 and 3450 was discontinued.
Reference 3448 is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 288 and in Ore d'Oro by Jader Barracca, Giampiero Negretti and Franco Nencini, p. 45.