100th Auction

2019/11/15

Lot 18

Patek Philippe Genève, "Nautilus Jumbo", Movement No. 1304187, Case No. 534116, Ref. 3700/1, Cal. 28-255C, 42 x 44 mm, circa 1977
A heavy vintage automatic Geneva wristwatch with date, sold on February 7th, 1978 - with Patek Philippe extract from the archives
Case: steel, screwed on bezel, steel PPC bracelet, bracelet length 150 mm, total length 190 mm. Dial: black, bar texture.
Over time, the dial of this Patek Philippe Nautilus has slightly changed from black to a charming, iridescent cognac colour. The dial has kept its lustre though despite the gentle aging and this lends the watch – in combination with the steel case - a new, different kind of beauty. Amongst the Nautilus aficionados, the so-called "tropical dials" are particularly cherished and sought after.
In 1976 Patek Philippe launched their first Nautilus model, an "unorthodox" wristwatch in a steel case. At the time, a gold, ultraflat watch design was considered the epitome of luxury - Patek Philippe surprised the market by opposing the prevailing trend with the "Nautilus Jumbo", a bold porthole design with a plain steel case. The first model of the range is reference 3700/1; the water resistance case (up to 120 m) receives a Swiss patent. In 1978 the steel version of this model had a price of 5,450 D-Mark, the gold version came to 16,800 D-Mark - at the time only a little less than a Mercedes-Benz 200 D would cost.

estimated
75.000100.000 €
Price realized
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