This exceedingly rare example of reference 3429 is highlighted not only by its warm pink gold case, but even by the presence of historical Milan-based retailer Gobbi. The relationship between Gobbi and Patek Philippe gave origin to some of the most coveted and collectible timepieces by the brand, such as a black-dialled 2526 signed by Gobbi, or the blue enamel pink gold 2523, once again with signed dial. In production from 1960 to 1969, reference 3429 is a very elusive watch, especially in this configuration: so far, the market has seen only eight pink gold examples and out of these eight only three - including the rpesent piece - bear this iconic signature.

The reference is powered by calibre 27-460, which happens to be an evolution of undisputedly the most celebrated, lavish and arguably accurate automatic calibre of all times: cal. 12-600. Compared to its ancestor, it features one main upgrade: the jewel supporting the rotor has been replaced by a flatter ball-bearing system, featuring a new adjustable balance spring stud carrier. In fact, beyond this difference, the movement is exactly the same as cal. 12-600, which underwent itself a series of incremental upgrades through the years, however without changes to its name. The new calibre designation reserved for this final upgrade indicates that finally Patek Philippe deemed to have achieved perfection for its automatic calibre, and thus gave a new name to the final evolution.