Patek Philippe 3970E '4th Series'

The ref. 3970 is one of the most stunning grand complications ever produced by Patek Philippe and certainly the last truly vintage one.

The reference 3970 was introduced in 1986 as the successor to the legendary and ultra-collectible reference 2499 perpetual calendar chronograph. The reference was produced for an impressive 18 years, before it was replaced by the updated ref. 5970. The introduction of the 5970 marked the end of an era of an era, with Patek shifting towards housing its grand complications in significantly larger–and thus more modern looking–cases.

This ref. 3970EJ (E = étanche, which means waterproof in French; J = jaune, for gold) is a fourth-series execution dating back to 2001. The watch features a classically-sized 36 mm 18K yellow gold case with pump pushers and a sapphire see-through case back through which the exquisitely hand finished manual-winding movement can be viewed.

The silvered dial sports 18K yellow-gold pointed baton indices and matching pointed baton hands. Two apertures at the 12 o’clock position reveal the day and month mechanism. The dial features three sub-dials. The recessed sub-dial at the 9 o’clock position displays a running seconds as well as a 24-hour hand while the recessed sub-dial at the 3-hour position incorporates a 30-minute chronograph counter and a leap year indicator. Finally on the lower sub-dial we find a charming moon phase indicator, which is surrounded by a date complication.

The watch comes on a brown alligator leather Patek Philippe strap together with an 18K yellow gold Patek Philippe deployant clasp. An additional solid gold case back is included as well which can be swapped for the see-through caseback during the next service. The watch is accompanied by an extract of the Patek Philippe archives.