Manufacturer: Patek Philippe Year: 1949 Reference No: 570 Movement No: 861'893 Case No: 647'721 Model Name: Calatrava Material: Stainless steel Calibre: Manual, cal. 12'''120, 18 jewels Bracelet/Strap: Leather Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Patek Philippe pin buckle stamped PPCo Dimensions: 36.5mm Diameter Signed: Case, dial, movement and pin buckle signed Accessories: Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch in 1949 and its subsequent sale on May 27, 1950. Literature: The present watch is prominently illustrated in Patek Philippe Steel Watches by John Goldberger, pp. 124 and 125.
Catalogue Essay
Cased in stainless steel, this reference 570 is truly astonishing. Boasting 36.5 mm in diameter, it exhibits full, thick lugs, and incredible proportions. The flat, cylindrical bezel retains sharp definition. The contrasting brushed and satin finishes enable the beholder to easily imagine how the watch originally left the Patek Philippe workshops in 1949.
Completely fresh to the auction market, the present watch has resided in a private collection for many years. It most notably features an indirect center seconds mechanism - an exceedingly rare complication for the reference. As the result of a collaboration between Victorin Piguet and Patek Philippe, this ébauche featured an additional centre seconds mechanism that was ingeniously added to the existing 12'''120 subsidiary seconds register movement, attesting to both firm's technical superiority. The present watch is one of 5 known steel reference 570s fitted with an indirect center seconds mechanism.
Furthermore, this watch is to the best of our knowledge, the only known reference 570 to feature the present dial configuration displaying four Arabic numerals, an outer minute track and enamel baton indexes.
This timepiece is prominently illustrated in Patek Philippe Steel Watches by John Goldberger, adding another layer of collectibility.
Since its founding in 1839, this famous Geneva-based firm has been surprising its clientele with superbly crafted timepieces fitted with watchmaking's most prestigious complications. Traditional and conservative designs are found across Patek Philippe's watches made throughout their history — the utmost in understated elegance.
Well-known for the Graves Supercomplication — a highly complicated pocket watch that was the world’s most complicated watch for 50 years — this family-owned brand has earned a reputation of excellence around the world. Patek's complicated vintage watches hold the highest number of world records for results achieved at auction compared with any other brand. For collectors, key models include the reference 1518, the world's first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph, and its successor, the reference 2499. Other famous models include perpetual calendars such as the ref. 1526, ref. 3448 and 3450, chronographs such as the reference 130, 530 and 1463, as well as reference 1436 and 1563 split seconds chronographs. Patek is also well-known for their classically styled, time-only "Calatrava" dress watches, and the "Nautilus," an iconic luxury sports watch first introduced in 1976 as the reference 3700 that is still in production today.