Bonhams 1793 : Patek Philippe. A fine and rare 18ct gold quartz bracelet watch Ref:3597/2, Case No.2720552, Movement No.00005941, Circa 1970

Ref:3597/2, Case No.2720552, Movement No.00005941, Circa 1970
13-jewel Cal.CEH B21 movement with quartz oscillator, blue cushion shape dial with applied gilt luminous filled hour markers, printed luminous outer minute divisions, date aperture at 3, gilt hands with luminous inserts, centre seconds, brushed cushion shaped case with screw on back and polished bezel, fitted 18ct gold Patek Philippe textured open weave bracelet with interlocking links, 18ct gold Patek Philippe folding clasp, case, dial and movement signed
42.5mm.

Sold for £15,000 inc. premium

Footnotes

This Patek Philippe is fitted with a Beta 21 movement, the first quartz movement to be produced and sold. After several collaborations between various leading Swiss watch brands including Patek Philippe and Rolex between 1962 and 1969, the Beta movement was introduced at the Basel fair in 1970 and used thereafter by various brands.

The Beta 21 is electronic, using quartz crystal with a natural oscillation rate of 8192Hz which Patek reduced to 256Hz by means of their proprietary frequency reducer. As a result, the seconds hand sweeps continuously rather than in short ticking movements normally associated with quartz watches. The watch was costly to produce and was discontinued fairly quickly.

Category: Clocks and Watches / Watches

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