Patek Philippe

I have written in the past about the different themes in my collection I have written about the Rolex Prince and also the rectangular Pateks with the 9-90 movement. I am going to cover the next part of my collection; the automatic Pateks with the spectacular 12-600 movement.

 I am not sure why I or other collect in groups. It does not really make sense to have one of each but as a collector I feel comfortable with my choices.

Collecting as many Prince types as I can or as many of the cases with 9-9- movements as I can afford to.

 Recently Roni and Joe have both shown pieces from the past. We have recently seen the new offerings from the 175 Anniversary.

 I know the company has to look forward but my own personal opinion is the glory days are in the past, especially with respect to design. Look at Roni’s fine collection of varied cases or Joe’s recent very simple but spectacular ref 3483. No one can fault the current series on the engineering prowess. Just look at the grandmaster Chime, caliber 89, the very fine ref 5959. 

Why this movement? The design and the marketing of the 12-600 fascinated me. The first Patek auto movement. The most over engineered movement. The best automatic movement. Hype or reality. 

 I do not have the expertise to judge but it sure is beautiful. 

 The reference numbers so far are 2526, 2540. 2552 2584 3415 

 Varied case designs, varied dial designs, all built around a sleek engine, which I will now analyse.

 Initially marketed as a self winding watch ( rather than the common automatic), all these watches seemed to share a common touch. The magnificent and bold double PP crown. It almost shouts Patek Philippe !!

Let’s looks at the movement The 12-600 AT stands for 

1/ 12 lignes diameter – approx. 27mm ( 1 ligne=2.256mm)

 2/ 600 – height of approx. 6mm 

3/ AT - automatic 

 30 Jewels 

18 kt sold gold rotor with a stunning guilloche pattern. Remember these watches do not have a display back. Most owners would never even see the movement let alone the rotor. A very nice touch. There are 2 jewels and a ball bearing here.

 



Double wind action thus the main spring is wound much quicker and more efficiently 

The balance- patented Gyromax, with weights attached to the balance wheel for finer regulation allowing for a 4-5 second change. It also has a swan neck regulator. There are some articles which report that the earliest 12-600 did not have the Gyromax regulator but I could not confirm this.

 It beats at a rate of 19 800 beats per hour.

 The adjustment is for heat and cold, five positions and isochronism (regardless of how wide an angle the balance wheel describes, it will do in the same time period each time) 

 Self compensating Breguet balance spring.

 The movement is attached to the case by three screws not the usual two.

 According to records, only 7'100 movements cal. 12'''-600 AT have been made from 1953 to circa 1959 and were mounted in wristwatches bearing the references 2526, 2540, 2551, 2552, 2583, 2584, 2585, 3403, 3415, and 3425. From 1959, Ref. 3415, 3425, 3428, 3429, 3433, 3443, 3435, 3438, 3439, 3440, 3441, 3444 and 3454 were equipped with cal. 27-460 as well.Cal. 27-460 became the movement which was used for all automatic wristwatches and 27-460 Q for perpetual calendar wristwatches with automatic winding.Circa 1960, Ref. 2526 was equipped with cal 27-460, the latest automatic movement by Patek Philippe at the time and became the Ref. 3428. Here is a picture of my 12-600 collection . 

 Ref 2526

Ref 2540rg

Ref 2552

ref 2584

Ref 3415rg

The reference 3403 is most probably one of the smallest automatic wristwatches released with a diameter of only 32mm.

 I have also included a picture of my ref 3433. It has the 27-460 movement but an identical case to the ref 2551, Note how the angles and bezel is different on the two references. Some people describe both as “disco volante” or flying saucer but I feel the name should be reserved for the ref 2552 with the sharper edges. The 2551 has a rounder concave bezel, smaller lugs and softer edges. ( note condition is not as clean)

Here are 2 pictures of the collection The first without the ref 3443  and the second with.

Enjoy The movement of the ref 2526 was discussed in detail in a very fine article published by Michael Friedman online at Timezone. The article ‘The Perfect Watch” highlighted most of the features of probably the finest automatic movement ever made ( OK I embellished a little, here). If anyone has a copy I would love to have one. 

 Thanks . 

Information for this articles was gathered from various sources including 

 1. Walt Odets 

2. Arolex 

3. Oinkitt 

4. Huber and Banbery 

5. Collecting Patek Philippe wristwatches –Ozvaldo Patrizzi 

6. Antiquorum