PATEK PHILIPPE, GOLD PERPETUAL CALENDAR, REF. 3448

The reference 3448 is one of Patek Philippe's best known perpetual calendar models and also one of the most easily recognizable thanks to its angular, architecturally designed case made by Antoine Gerlach. The model was introduced in 1962 and was at the time the first self-winding perpetual calendar wristwatch. It is thought that a total of only 586 examples were made, the majority in yellow gold cases. Few watches were cased in white gold and only two examples in platinum are known to date.
Made in 1963, the case of the timepiece was made by the case maker A. Gerlach and is part of the first batches ever manufactured for the reference. With a distinct design, the dial was changed during the lifetime of the timepiece and displays the typical features of replacement dials of the 1980s. The movement is the celebrated caliber 27-460 that was upgraded and renamed caliber 27-460 Q with a perpetual calendar mechanism fitted on the movement plate underneath the dial. The caliber 27-460 Q is amongst the most sophisticated and lavish automatic movements ever made.

Reference 3448 is illustrated in Patek Philippe Wristwatches by Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, second edition, p. 288, and in Ore d'Oro by Jader Barracca, Giampiero Negretti and Franco Nencini, p. 45.