Patek Philippe Calatrava – Ref 3468 – 18K YG – Cal 23-300 – 1970’s

Vintage Patek Philippe Calatrava with reference 3468 with round light champagne dial. Gold batons marking each hour. The hands are in gold with stick design. It is a 18K yellow gold case with engraved inside “Patek-Philippe & Co.  – Geneve - Swiss – 18K - .750 – Key 2 - 2715940 – Ref 3468” and outside “Christmas 1972 – To my perfect Gem love Jan Jan – 18K”. The watch comes with a Patek Philippe manual winding movement with caliber 23-300 and 18 jewels. The watch comes with a brand new gray Patek Philippe strap and an .750 Patek Philippe gold buckle.

History

On May 1, 1839 the legendary watch company was founded in Geneva under the name of “Patek, Czapek & Co.”. In 1844, during an exhibition in Paris, Patek hears about a person named Jean Adrien Philippe who made an astonishingly thin pocket watch which could be wound and set without a key. Philippe became the technical director of the company the following year. In 1845, the company becomes “Patek & Co.” and in 1851 it got his final name “Patek Philippe & Co.” to reward the genius Jean Adrien. For the last 150 years, Patek is the pioneer for wristwatches. In 1927 comes the first perpetual calendar then the world time in 1937 and tourbillon in 1945. Since 1997, Patek produce 30,000 watches per year. In 2005, the company brought out an escape wheel made of monocrystalline silicon under the banner of “Advanced research” and then in 2006 by a silicon balance spring with the name “Spiromax”. Names are mythical like the Calatrava, World Time, Nautilus, just to name a few.

Technical details

Manual wind movement with caliber 23-300. It has 18 jewels and 19,800A/h. The movement number is 1213270. The movement was produced from 1956 to 1975.

Measurements

Diameter excluding winding crown: 33mm


Length including lugs: 39mm