The Rarest Patek Perpetual Calendar — the 3449

Hi guys, how are you? It's Way from Revolution of the Rake here with the incredible Auro Montanari aka John Goldberger and we are about to discuss one of the most famous watches of all time. He's got it on his wrist but maybe before we start talking about this watch and look at it in detail, we can first talk a little bit about one of our favorite brands, Patek Philippe and Patek's history with the perpetual calendar. So I think if I'm not mistaken, Patek's very first perpetual calendar dates back to 1925. That was actually a movement that was initially in a woman's pendant watch which they then recased and later sold in 1925. I think the story of serial production at Patek begins in 1941 with the 1526. This was Patek's first. Yeah, but before, Patek made a few examples of perpetual. The first one is the 33 with the two cases and after that, he made a good retrograde perpetual. In the 40s? In the 37. Okay. In the 39, he made the very famous platinum perpetual with the repeating and it was in the museum. Incredible. After that, it was only one-off pieces. Yes. And they started the regular production perpetual in the 41 with the 1518 and with the 1526. So what do you think was going on in Patek Philippe? Because this is 1941. We're in the middle of the Second World War. Why do you think Patek decides to release two of the most iconic watches of all time? The world's first perpetual calendar chronograph and first perpetual calendar chronograph. It's incredible because during the Second World War, to manufacture this kind of watch is an incredible idea. But they show in Basel and they start the production. Incredible. The 1518 start from that 41, 42 until 50. After that, they jump to the new reference 2499. Yes. So then following up the 1526, if I'm not mistaken, one of my favorite watches is the 1591. The 1591 was made in two examples. It was a center seconds, water resistant perpetual calendar, if I'm not mistaken, made for a Maharaja. That piece was in steel and then there's one in gold as well, if I'm not mistaken. The gold one was purchased by Tito in Geneva, the Marshal Tito from Yugoslavia. Oh, okay. Amazing. It was also in the museum. And the other one was sold to Favre-Leube, a retailer in, I think, Bombay or Calcutta in India. But I thought it was two watches. They sold in a steel case there, but only one was found. Right. Amazing. And then we can go from there to the 2497, which I think is the next serially produced watch. I think, if I'm not mistaken, that was from 1951 to 1963. Very cool watch also, and also retains the center seconds as well. Also, there are two versions, one with the screw back. I don't remember the reference number, is it 24 something, I don't know. And the other was the regular- 2438. Right. 2438 with the screw back. We found a few in white gold, 2497, a few in platinum, and other was a regular production yellow or pink gold. So in 1962, and I know the watch we're talking about comes from 1961, but in 1962, Patek Philippe launches the iconic 3448. Very cool watch, disco Volant shape. It was sort of the zeitgeist of that era. I think it was worn by people like Andy Warhol, for example. And it was also self-winding. It also was a very advanced design for that period, because it was thick, with a nice shape case, with very strange looks. And I think they, I think almost eight years ago, Patek Philippe reintroduced the same kind of case in the Regoletto. Very cool watch. But what's interesting is that the year before that, in 1961, Patek releases three pieces of a model named the 3449. And this is a similar shaped case, but with different lugs. In fact, there was three examples, and all three are different. One with a double step, the other triple step, like this example. Don't show yet, don't show yet. So okay, so the 3449 was as opposed to the 3448 manual wind. And do you think it was in some ways like a test platform for the 3448? Yeah. Right. And so there were three watches that were made. The first of the three is a triple step with angular lugs. The second was double step, we're talking about the bezel, of course, with angular lugs. And the third one was triple step with long lugs, and it's probably the most unique execution of the three of these watches. And one is in the Patek Philippe Museum, it was found in Italy a long time ago. And the other one is in private collection, the third one is on my wrist. And the third one's on your wrist. The last one. And this is the one with the long lugs, which is probably the most identifiable, maybe the most famous of those three. It was sold in the 65 in Texas by Linz, was very important watch dealer in Dallas. It also was a very important seller for Rolex. There are a lot of, there are a few example of Rolex, Paul Newman with the Linz. Absolutely. Signature on the dial. And so the lucky gentleman who purchased this watch in 1965 was George Poston. And he was at the time only 30 years old. He paid 5,500 US dollars for this watch, which is a huge amount of money for that period. I'm sure you could buy a very nice Ferrari for this kind of money. But he had the foresight to buy this watch. And then he had a very special engraving on the back of it. And this is an engraving that says, today more than yesterday, less than tomorrow in French. Which is from the poet, Rosamond Girard. And really, I mean, this is a huge piece of horological history. One of the only 3449s in existence. The most famous execution of it in immaculate condition, now on the wrist of the most famous watch collector in the world. No famous one. Good collector. The most knowledgeable watch collector in the world. Would you agree? Okay. Excellent. So Aro, I mean, tell us a little bit about, because I know that George, or Gio, as it's called, would later sell this watch and it would end up in auction. How did it go from there to your wrist? Yeah. The watch was presented at the last Christie auction for 175th anniversary. And I think it was purchased from two dealers, one American and one Italian. And after that, they offered me the watch. And I traded with a very important Rolex Pullman. So, but if you don't mind my saying, the watch you traded for this was one of the most famous watches of all time also, which had a very special configuration of the dial, which was the Yacht-Master. Yeah, the Yacht-Master. The only three known example. One from a recollect on collection, the other one I think is a Rolex safe. And then the third one now resides with the person who had this watch. Yeah. So you guys traded. Yeah. And also, now the watch is one of the most important collection Rolex in the world. Amazing. And am I correct that this all transpired in Capri? Yeah. In a mutual friend's villa? Yeah. And so tell me, how did the conversation go? Were you having a few glasses of wine? Were you like, you know, I really like that watch? Yeah. I love the watch. And I approached him, the dealer, I'd like to trade with this watch. And after that, we have a meeting in Costa Esmeralda. But did you know he had this? Yeah. So you knew he liked this? You knew he probably wanted your Yacht-Master? I brought my Yacht-Master. We traded. I was back in Capri, and I wear it. So it was one-to-one trade? Yeah. Fantastic. Amazing. So one piece of watchmaking history for another piece of watchmaking history. And tell us a little bit about why you decided to make that trade. Because it's very rare watches, and I'm getting old. I prefer to have in my collection something with more consistency than a Rolex Paul Newman or Rolex. It's a unique piece. I love the quality of the watch, the dial, the case, good provenance, and it's a good watch. It's a great watch. It's an extraordinary watch. Yeah, because, you know, there is all the well-done manufacturing by Patek, the case, and the dial. Yeah, the dial is an all-in-grain dial, and made by Stan Frell. I've seen you, when I met you in Singapore, you had an incredible 1518 on your wrist. So you've got a 1518, you've got the 3449. Are these, this period of iconic Patek perpetual calendars, is that really important to you? Do you love these watches? Yeah, I love it a lot. For me, the 1518 is one of the best watch manufacturers in the Swiss industry, by the Swiss industry, because after that, the 2499 is more modern case, there was a lot of evolution about this model, they came to 84, they changed to 2970, it was very similar, but 1518 is a unique design. Incredible. Unique design, like the color travel design of Patek, the movement is great, the execution of the dials is great, but it's very hard to find a very good example of 1518 now. And I guess the watch that followed this was the 3450, which was a similar watch, but with little windows for the leap year, or for a little window for the leap year. And I think that kind of concludes that sort of golden period of... For me, the golden period of the horology finished in the 84, when Vareseau stopped to manufacture movement for Patek, and for Rolex also. Also Rolex changed the movement from Vareseau to El Primero. Everything was changed in the middle of 80, because it was the introduction of the computer, the computer hide in the design. So CAD cam came in, yes. The new tooling machine, they started new. Because what's interesting, if you look at this period of watchmaking, even the Patek references that we're talking about, the 1518, the 2499, the 1526, the 2497, these watches were made in maximum a few hundred watches. And I guess in the 80s... I think the regular production of 1518 was 15 pieces per year, although the other perpetual like this. And I guess that when you have, in the mid 80s, the introduction of CAD cam, you have also the introduction to some degree of mass production. Is that correct? You see also the finishing of the case is different, it's no more manual, it's only machine polishing. Before all the finishing was handmade. You see the finishing on the locks, on the triple-step case, it's different kind of work. When you achieved this watch, which is one of the rarest on the planet, did you feel a sense that you've completed the journey a little bit? Yeah, I completed the journey, but the excitement was buying the watch. The excitement was not wearing the watch? Really? No. Can I try it on? I'm a big lover of possession. Ah, okay. So it's interesting. So as a person who has one of the greatest watch collections in the world, including this watch, but at the same time you're not materialistic. No. And so you like the journey of seeking out the piece. I like the story of how I approached the dealer on the beach, I like the story of how to trade the watch, and when I came back with the watch and my wrist, the story was finished. I can tell you that wearing it on my wrist, I am feeling just electrifying sensations of excitement and happiness. I find a nice old plastic bracelet and that's it. Amazing. The only work I do on it. I don't know, it takes my breath away and you are an amazing person. Thank you so much for joining us and thank you for sharing the 3449 with us. Thank you, brother.