1940s 18ct gold vintage Patek Philippe ‘Calatrava’ watch

Date:           1940s

Case:            18ct gold, 30mm

Movement: Calibre 12-120

Dial:             Champagne with gold batons

Lugs:            16mm

A 1940s, 18ct gold vintage Patek Philippe Calatrava watch. The case measures 30mm in diameter. The case is signed Patek Philippe & Co., Geneve, Swiss, marked 18K and numbered, ref. 96. The beautifully finished, calibre 12-120, manual wind movement is signed Patek Philippe & Co, Geneva, Swiss, with 18 jewels, with compensation balance, adjusted to heat, cold, isochronism, five positions, and numbered. The silvered dial has applied faceted gold baton hour indicators, with gold dauphine hands and subsidiary seconds dial. The dial is signed Patek Philippe & Co., Geneve above the centre.

A stunning early 1940s example of the iconic ‘Calatrava’ watch from Patek Philippe. 

The ref. 96 is one of the most famous of all Patek models. First produced  in 1932, the year the company was sold to the Stern family, who still own Patek Philippe today. Charles Stern, one of the brothers who purchased the company, set out to design a new model to revive Patek Philippe’s market which had suffered from the economic depression after the Wall Street crash of 1929. The model, later named the ‘Calatrava’, after the symbol of Patek Philippe; the ornate ‘Calatrava’ cross, inspired by Bauhaus philosophy of ‘form follows function’, it was elegantly simple in design, its round case with flat bezel was an instant success.