You didn't post a photo of the dial, however, I suspect this is a 2499/100 which was the last series (fifth series) of the 2499 production. Essentially this was the prototype of the 3970 reference.
The fifth series had a larger case to accomodate the new sapphire crystal on the front, and in this case, the back. Reportedly, only three watches had a sapphire back so this should be one of them.