The ref. 3940 is the Platonic ideal of a Patek Philippe, combining an exquisite dress watch with an ultra high-end complication.

At the height of the quartz crisis that decimated the Swiss watch industry, Patek released a duo of watches with perpetual calendar complications in 36 mm cases. The ref. 3940 housed this unique complication in a beautiful dressy case. The watch was notably worn by Thierry Stern, patriarch of the Stern family that owns Patek Philippe. This 3940J is housed in a yellow gold case with a matching yellow gold screw down case back. The champagne dial sports 18k yellow-gold pointed baton indexes and elegant 18k yellow-gold dauphine hands. Two apertures at the 12 o’clock position reveal the day and month mechanism. The complications are displayed on three recessed sub-dials. The sub-dial at the 9 o’clock position indicates the day of the week as well as a 24-hour hand, while the sub-dial at 3 incorporates the month 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. Officially, the 3940 was only produced between 1985 and 2007 and this example dates back to 1990.

The watch comes on a black alligator leather Patek Philippe strap together with a yellow gold deployant clasp and a Extract from the Patek Philippe Archives.