First released in 1986 as the replacement of reference 2499, Patek Philippe reference 3971 (and its solid case back sibling the reference 3970) is a sort of “trait d’union” between the vintage and modern production of the company. Aesthetically, it presents many similarities to its predecessor, such as its pump-style pushers and downturned stepped lugs. The movement, however, features remarkable technical upgrades compared to what we find in ref. 2499: abandoning the Valjoux ébauche for a - heavily modified - Nouvelle Lemania ébauche, the model also provides information about the leap year and day/night cycles on the dial, extremely useful when setting the watch.

The reference features one of the most peculiar evolutions for a Patek Philippe model, likely due to the tumultuous era of watchmaking in which the 3971 came to be – the 1980s and 1990s. Though a tenuous time, they were in fact the beginning of a new renaissance of mechanical watchmaking now in full bloom.

Originally, the first two models – references 3970 and 3971 – were released with snap on case backs initially (known as first series), but very soon, the screw down back was introduced. Second series pieces, such as the present one, thus present screw down case backs and maintain the “first series” dial configuration, featuring “feuille” hands and rectangular hour markers. With the third series, a merging of the two references takes place: ref. 3971 disappears and only ref. 3970 is left, offered with both solid and glazed back – except for the platinum version. The dial configuration as well changes: the hands are baton, and the hour markers are not perfectly rectangular anymore, but rather feature a small “arrow” pointing to the center, known as lapidated indexes.

While the output of the model was at the beginning relatively low, it ramped up by the end of the production run. Consequently, early examples of the first and second series are much more scarce than later specimens.

An additional layer of intellectual - as well as aesthetic - interest is given by the fact that early pieces such as the present lot feature four hallmarks to the outer sides of the lugs, a very unusual placement which was abandoned mid-production probably because the location is very sensitive to rubbing. Another hypothesis is that clients remarked that they did not like to see the hallmarks on the lugs. The present example, one of only twenty-six known, bears all four hallmarks completely present to each lug.