PERPETUAL CALENDAR RETROGRADE 'SPECIAL ORDER' MODEL, REF. 5050J-023, MOVEMENT NO. 3'720'336, CASE NO. 2'998'685, MANUFACTURED IN 2008

Offered in very good overall condition and confirmed by the Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives, it's believed that the reference 5050J-023 was a 'special order' timepiece assembled from 'new old stock' parts on request by only the most important clients of Patek Philippe at the time (mid to late-2000s to the mid-2010s). Featuring a 35 mm. 18k yellow gold case and slate-grey dial with Breguet numerals, this combination is rarely seen in timepieces from Patek Philippe and creates an unusual, striking and elegant aesthetic. To the best of our knowledge, approximately only 5 examples with this combination are known to the market.

The Reference 5050
Patek Philippe's first perpetual calendar wristwatch featuring a retrograde date made in series, was introduced at the Basel Fair in 1993, cased in 18k yellow gold only. As of 1995, it was also available in 18k pink gold, 18k white gold and platinum but still exclusively with the silvered dial, applied Roman numerals, aperture for the moon phases. Following substantial demand from clients, Patek Philippe introduced a second version featuring applied baton indexes, a modified moon phases display now in form of a circular subsidiary dial, outer beady minute divisions and the addition of the designation "Automatic". It was discontinued in 2002.