REF. 1579A, MOVEMENT NO. 867'232, CASE NO. 660'233, MANUFACTURED IN 1947

This superlative stainless steel reference 1579A ‘spider lugs’ chronograph can be considered as one of the rarest made by Patek Philippe. To date, only around nine examples, including the present watch are known publicly. Interestingly, of these nine, only two examples are known to survive from the 1940s, all the others, including the present watch, were later cased in unused cases that were made around 1950 and used up until the 1980s. The present watch is particularly important among this rarefied group because it has a first-series ‘long signature’ bombé dial, all the other known later cased examples have the typical flat dial seen on this reference. It can therefore be considered unique for its dial configuration. The steel case of the present watch must have been one of the first to be used as a custom re-case, being fitted in 1967 according to the Extract from the Archives. This case is from the same second-series group made around 1950 that were used up to and more regularly in the mid to late 1980s. The main body of the case and bezel of the present watch were then replaced during a service in 2010 but retaining the original lugs.

These ultra-exclusive reference 1579A created using ‘new old stock’ steel cases are a fascinating group in being officially sanctioned by Patek Philippe to recase selected client’s existing watches. It is thought that yellow or pink gold watches belonging to important and faithful clients of the firm were remodelled in this way by special invitation or by request. For the present watch, the results of this transformation are simply stunning. The lovely matte silver first-series bombé dial made by Stern Frères in 1945-47 is fitted with applied hand-cut white gold Arabic and baton hour markers and an outer tachymeter scale. The case is of three-piece construction with snapped bezel and back and soldered faceted lugs, its large 36mm diameter makes this watch even more desirable today than when it was originally sold.

One of the great Patek Philippe vintage chronograph references, this superb stainless steel ‘Spider Lugs’, represents a unique opportunity for the collector to obtain arguably the most interesting and appealing individual example of the incredibly rare custom-cased stainless steel 1579A.