Patek Philippe
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DETAILS
Patek Philippe is known as the first brand to produce highly complex mechanical wristwatches with chronograph and perpetual calendar functions in series. Ref. 1518, the first watch of this type, was produced from 1941 to 1954. Until then, complicated watches were made as one-offs and almost always to order, and Patek Philippe was the first brand to organize production on a regular basis. After the Ref. 1518 was discontinued, Patek Philippe replaced it with the Ref. 2499, which was produced from 1951 to 1985; both the Ref. 1518 and 2499 were based on the Valjoux chronograph movement-blank. The development of the Ref. 3970 marked the transition from the Valjoux to the Nouvelle Lémania movement, namely the Nouvelle Lémania 2310 caliber, characterized by its traditional design with lateral clutch and column wheel and its suitability for adaptation to the requirements of the Geneva Seal. The Ref. 3970 used the perpetual calendar module that had been developed for the Ref. 3940 in the early 1980s, but was modified by changing the day of the week and month indications from the hand format to the disks in the apertures. As a result, the Ref. 3970 was generously endowed with the dial of the classic layout of the Ref. 1518 and 2499, which Patek Philippe had been using for perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatches for over 40 years at that point. The additional leap year and 24-hour day/night indications made the design a little more complex, but did not impair legibility.
REASONS TO BUY
This Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 3971E in 18k yellow gold with an opaline silver-plated dial has become increasingly popular with collectors in recent years and is considered a great classic by Patek Philippe and one of its iconic designs of the late 20th century. It belongs to the second series of Ref. 3970/3971 and is considered rare, especially in the version with hallmarks outside the lugs, as on this watch. Despite the highly complex caliber with the two classic complications of the chronograph and the perpetual calendar, the watch has a compact 36 mm case, which makes it look good on both men's and women's wrists. This makes it undoubtedly recognizable compared to similarly complex modern watches, which usually have a very large 40+ mm case. The undisputed advantage of this watch is the fantastically beautiful chronograph movement, which can be seen through the sapphire caseback. Patek Philippe is one of the finest craftsmen when it comes to the design and traditional craftsmanship of chronograph calibers. Each piece is therefore a precious masterpiece of fine watchmaking, as evidenced by the prestigious Geneva seal on the balance bridge.
ABOUT THIS WATCH
The rarer Ref. 3971 was released in the same year, 1986, as the Ref. 3970. It was technically almost exactly the same watch, but had a sapphire crystal caseback instead of a solid caseback. The release of the Ref. 3971 coincided with the production of the Ref. 3970 during the first two series, i.e. until around 1990. It should be noted that production of the Ref. 3970 began in 1986 and continued until 2004, with the entire production split into four series. According to Phillips, the watches in the first series, which were only produced in yellow gold from 1986 to 1988, have a snap-on solid gold or exhibition caseback, gold “leaf” hands and gold rectangular and square indexes. Production of the first series is estimated at 100 pieces, including the Ref. 3971 – according to Phillips. The watches of the second series (1987–1990) were equipped with a screw-down solid or exhibition caseback, which improved the water resistance. This is why the models were given the letter “E” (for “étanche”, which stands for the water resistance of the case) – 3970E (solid caseback) and 3971E (exhibition caseback). They were produced in 18k yellow, white and rose gold as well as in platinum in an estimated production run of 650 pieces, while Phillips estimates that only 170 pieces of the Ref. 3971E were produced.
From the third series (1989–1995), the watches were fitted with “obelisk” hands and pointed “obelisk” hour markers, a solid screw-down caseback and an additional sapphire caseback, and so the brand stopped using reference 3971 for the sapphire-backed model, as there was no longer any reason to use two references, 3970 and 3971, from this point onwards. It must be said that the production of the third and fourth series (approx. 1,350 and approx. 2,000 respectively – Phillips) significantly exceeds that of the first and second series, which makes the first and second series pieces rarer and thus more attractive to collectors, all other things being equal.
The movement of this Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 3971E bears the number 875580, which corresponds to the second series range. Other characteristic features include a matt white dial with slightly recessed sub-dials with concentric grooves, which shows no signs of the patina typical of watches from the first series thanks to the water-resistant construction with screw-down caseback of the second series. Another interesting design feature of this watch is the hallmarks on the lugs, which are unusually stamped on the outside. These are the gold hallmarks "750 in a rectangle" and "750, Key of Geneva" as well as the case-maker mark "28 on the key" (the case mark of the Ateliers Réunis, which have been partly owned by Patek Philippe since 1977). The placement of the hallmarks outside the lugs makes the examples of this type, of which there are only a few, including this watch, even more attractive, especially when one knows that Patek Philippe abandoned the hallmarks on the outside of the lugs before the end of the second series.
Specifications
| Ref | 3971 | |
| D= | 36mm | |
| Glass | Sapphire glass | |
| Dial | White | |
| Case material | 18K Yellow Gold | |
| Movement | Manual Winding |
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