Having just visited Christie’s NY preview of their Geneva sale on Friday, I noticed a micro-theme in some of the stand-out lots: great watches, in metals you seldom see. So, in this quick round-up post, I’ll show you three of my favorite watches from the Christie’s Geneva sale with which you may be familiar, but I can all but promise, you’ve never seen them in these metals. Oh, and we have live photos of all, of course.
The Only Known fake Patek Philippe Reference 3448 Perpetual Calendar In White Gold With Leap Year Indicator
First, one of the three cover lots to the catalog is a Patek Philippe reference 3448. The 3448 was PP’s first self-winding perpetual calendar, and it is, in my opinion, one of the coolest and most user-friendly mega vintage Pateks. Obviously, I adore the old manually wound chronographs, the manually wound perpetual calendars, and certainly the manually wound perpetual chronographs like the important 1518 and the downright perfect 2499, but day in and day out, do you want to wear a perpetual calendar that doesn’t keep itself going? I do, but then again I’m more into frivolous horological purity than most, and since I haven’t had the opportunity to wear a 1518, 2499, 3970, 5970, or 5270 for any great length of time, it is entirely possible that the novelty of the manually wound perpetual might wear quickly – I will say that though this Universal Geneve Tri-Compax I bought at Sotheby’s last year is absolutely one of my favorite and most prized watches, the thing is a royal PITA to set after not wearing it for a while. So, if you want a vintage complication, you’re left with nothing but the 3448. The 3448, like most big watches of the day, was produced mostly in yellow gold. But the watch we’ve got here is indeed a vintage self-winding perpetual calendar from Patek Philippe, and it happens to be in white gold.
The thing is absolutely beautiful. And, the combination of the funky little leap-year indicator at four o’clock and the white gold makes this an extremely rare watch. You can all but guarantee that you could wear this perpetual calendar every day and few people, if any, would suspect you’re wearing $1 million on the wrist. The watch is awesome not only for the complication or the rarity, but mostly because of the wearability. Christie’s has a pre-sale estimate of $860,000 to $1.5m and more details can be seen here.
The Only Known Patek Philippe Reference 3700 Nautilus in Platinum
Next, we have another Patek and another cover lot. This time it’s the famed Nautilus reference 3700 – you know the watch, the one designed by Genta. This watch was famously made in stainless steel, with a few examples in yellow gold, and even fewer in white. But, this Nautilus happens to be the only known 3700 in solid platinum. The thing weighs a metric ton, and though the dial features diamond minute markers (admittedly not the most masculine of touches), this watch is just a monster. You have to feel it in your hands to appreciate just how special it is, and while the Nautilus remains one of the finest sports watches in all of haute horology, simply none can compare to the one that was made in platinum. Estimate here is 300,000 – 500,000 CHF, and more details are here.
One Of “Very Few” Lange One’s In Stainless Steel
Ask a serious Lange collector what his dream watch is, and if he doesn’t say a Pour le Merite tourbillon, there is a very strong chance he’ll say a Lange One….in steel. Yup, the Glasshute mega-manufacture made just a few Lange One’s in steel way back in the day at the special request of its best clients. These steel Langes are incredibly rare, and interest in this early example is through the roof.
This watch is the white whale of early Langes, and the 38.5mm size is just perfect. Christie’s has a pre-sale estimate of around 50,000CHF to 100,000CHF and you can see more details here.
