In-Depth: The Patek Philippe Ref. 2497, Part 2: The Rarest Examples And A Buyers Guide
Recently, we took an exhaustive look at the Patek Philippe ref. 2497 from a scholarly perspective, tearing down each minute detail that makes Patek’s first center-seconds chronograph so remarkable. If you ever had a question about production numbers or design details, you hopefully have your answer now. But frankly, that’s not the fun part. As it always is, the fun part is looking at the incredibly rare stuff.
In part two, we’re going to tackle the stuff that people like me (who will likely never buy a watch like this) will really enjoy – checking out the rarest types. It’s like window shopping a vintage Ferrari dealer: purely aspirational but equally satisfying. Heck, maybe someday you’ll be able to strap one of these on your wrist or sit in the seat of a 250 GT Lusso. One can hope. You’ll at least have all the knowledge you need to know how truly rare the experience is.
Then, later in the story, I’ll give you my take on a buyers guide for those people who are lucky enough to actually be shopping for one of these rare watches. Fair warning, it’s a lot to digest (and even longer than the last one) so don’t try to eat it all in one bite. This is a story best broken up into multiple sittings.
The Rarest Of The Rare
There are many tremendous examples of the 2497 out there, and new ones keep coming to the market. Only 56 examples of a total of 114 made have been discovered, so in theory, there’s still room to find something not seen publicly before. Earlier this month, a new pink example (movement number 042) came up at an auction house in Spain and fetched over a million dollars (one dealer told me it was worth somewhere between $1.2 and 1.4 million). Part of that of the rarity of the case material (it was only the 10th pink 2497 found) and its excellent condition. But there are a handful of notable examples you should know if you’re going to study (or hunt) this reference.
The Breguet
There is, in my mind, one ref. 2497 to rule them all. About a year ago, I started a list of five watches I’d like to see come to auction again, if for no other reasons than 1) I’d have to fly out and see them for myself; and 2) because they’d completely reset our understanding of the price a rare watch can achieve. This was the first watch on that list and it basically speaks for itself.
Photo: courtesy Christie’s
Platinum. Breguet numerals. That should be all you need to know. This watch, movement number 888’075, might be one of the most incredibly striking (oh god, I’m using auction terms) Patek Philippe watches ever made. Only two examples of the reference were made in platinum, both with Wenger cases, but the fact that they are in platinum trumps any preference for Vichet case design. In fact, Patek (to my knowledge) never made another platinum perpetual calendar until the 1980s, with the 2499P. The fact that this is my favorite of the two comes down solely to those hard enamel Breguet numerals on the dial. The open and very austere minute track around the outside is also a nice touch. The whole package has a balance of sporty and elegant that you just can’t beat.
Photo: courtesy Christie’s
Photo: courtesy Christie’s
The watch hasn’t been seen publicly since it was auctioned off during its first and only appearance at Christie’s in 2008 from the family of the original owner. It was a wild sale, the same one where Philippe Stern and Arnaud Tellier beat out the rest of the world for Briggs Cunningham Jr.’s steel ref. 1526. The price for the ref. 2497P? All in, CHF 3,207,400 and, as those in the room will tell you, it went to a friend of Hodinkee: Alfredo Paramico. Again, that’s 2008 pricing. How much would it go for today? I asked a few people (some of whom bid on the watch then), and we all arrived at the same range: $7.5 to 10 million without breaking a sweat, maybe even $12 million. A four-million-dollar jump in 16 years is a lot. Seven million would make headlines.
Platinum With Diamonds
It was hard to pick one of the two platinum references to discuss first, so don’t let that fool you into thinking this example is anything but extraordinary. The watch, movement number 888’029, is an entirely beautifully designed take on the reference, possibly my favorite perpetual calendar ever done. The watch, Wenger-cased like almost all other non-yellow metals, features diamond indices on three-quarters of the dial, with three, nine, and 12 o’clock featuring baguette diamonds. It also has rose gold leaf hands, which add a pop to the dial. Then there’s the bracelet.
One of two platinum ref. 2497, this one with diamonds. Photo: courtesy John Goldberger
The flat, polished brick bracelet is likely from Gay Frères, as are the rare other original bracelets sold with ref. 2497s. It’s cut such that it nestles against the case perfectly, making an almost completely integrated design.
Photo: courtesy John Goldberger
There’s not much else I can tell you about this watch. It hasn’t been traded publicly since 1997, when it was sold at Antiquorum for a (now comically low) approximately $750,000, which would have been a massive result at the time. This watch, in the hands of a private collector, is the example I almost got to see in person. At that time I was shown more recent cell phone pictures, but this is the first time anyone has shared recent professional photos taken by John Goldberger for the owner.
The ‘Selassie’ And A Potential Caution
Sometimes, extraordinary watches have mixed histories. Others also come with a word of caution. In 2015, Christie’s tried to sell one of the most phenomenal examples of a ref. 2497 but it was pulled from the sale due to a title dispute mere minutes before it was set to cross the rostrum. To complicate title matters, the watch formerly belonged to the late Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie – certainly no easy estate to unravel.
From our coverage of the watch in 2017.
The watch, movement number 888’058, features a yellow gold Wenger case and a unique black first-series dial with luminous hands. It eventually sold in 2017 after a bidding war between two powerhouse dealers, Alfredo Paramico and Davide Parmegiani, with the latter taking it home for $2,898,000. Pateks with black dials and yellow cases are some of the most collectible from the brand, so the price makes sense (and could be higher today). But there’s a warning to share about these black dials.
There is another yellow gold black-dialed ref. 2497 out there, a second-series dial with luminous hands that appeared once at Antiquorum in 2009. This should be one of the most coveted watches among the ref. 2497. The weird thing is that despite being offered with an “Extract from the Archives” (though there is no word what that extract said), the watch went unsold. I asked some of the few folks who would have handled that watch and didn’t get a clear answer as to why. One trusted collector said, “I didn’t like it.” Another told me that, by their recollection, the dial looked redone. I don’t want to completely dismiss it since I haven’t seen it in person, and it could still be a very correct and valuable watch, but I’d be curious to see what the market would say if it came up again.
The Fullerton
There’s a strong argument to be made that “The Fullerton” is the most important ref. 2497 in the world by some margin. This is the first Caliber 27SC Q movement made by Patek, movement number 888’000, and it was placed in the unique case no. 663’034, made in 1951 by the master Emile Vichet. This watch was the prototype for the new model presented at the Basel Fair in 1953. Eventually, it was sold to Pete Fullerton, grandson of one of the most important collectors in history – Henry Graves Jr. – and himself an important collector, a testament to his relationship with Patek.
The Fullerton as seen when it first sold at Sotheby’s in 2015.
That’s a lot of superlatives, so I’ll break it down into simple terms. The watch has an unusual case design, a three-piece case with long, curving, and almost polished-looking lugs. The dial’s applied numerals have a distinct, bold, practically futuristic cubist font. That combination isn’t anywhere else on a ref. 2497 – if you saw this in person, there would be no doubt it’s “the Fullerton.”
The Fullerton when it first sold at Christie’s in 2021.
Photos: courtesy Christie’s
The watch has sold twice since Fullerton owned it, once at Sotheby’s for CHF 688,000 in 2012 and then at Christie’s in 2021 for CHF 1,507,144. I’m honestly surprised it stayed that low. Maybe it’s because it’s not a perfect representation of the ref. 2497 in other regards; some collectors like to see watches that look like the emblematic design of the reference. But 1.5 million is a massive amount in most currencies.
The Sydney Rose
Another one of my favorites, the “Sydney Rose” is pretty self-explanatory. This is a second series watch (first-series dial, Wenger case) in rose gold with luminous rose gold dauphine hands, the watch is striking. There are a few asterisks but all of them are above board.
Photo: courtesy Phillips
The watch was made in 1954 but went unsold, so Patek updated it in the 1960s by adding a gold “Milanese” bracelet and replacing the original “feuille” hands with the new luminous hands. This is an example of why it’s believed that the second series dial was an update made to help sell unsold units. The watch eventually made its way to Australia in the 1960s where it eventually finally sold. When it resurfaced, it was given the nickname “Sydney Rose.” Phillips sold the watch in 2017 for CHF 742,000.
The White Gold Trio
It’s not just a weird name for a jazz combo; the “White Gold Trio” is how I’m treating the three white gold examples of the ref. 2497, movement numbers 888’015, 888’054, and 888’055. All of them are in the second series (Wenger cases, first series dials). In part one, I mentioned that this was the last reference where Patek kept white metals very, very rare. I was lucky to see one of them – 888’054, which belongs to my friend Dave – in person, but that’s not the only reason I’d put it in the top three. Take a look at the bracelet.
From the front, the watch looks to have complete, uninterrupted rows on the Gay Frères bracelet, with any joints between the rows covered by the “Florentine” finish. That’s in contrast to the platinum example with an otherwise similar bracelet. The watch also will fit someone with over a 7.8″ wrist – the bracelet was jangly on my wrist when I tried it on. One of the interesting subtle features of the factory bracelet is the notch at seven o’clock that allows access to the corrector button for the moonphase without needing to remove the bracelet. This watch has sold multiple times at auction, most recently in 2021 at Phillips for CHF 2,813,000.
Photo: courtesy Christie’s
Photo: courtesy Christie’s
Photo: courtesy Christie’s
Photo: courtesy Antiquorum
Next is another example – movement 888’015 – with a Gay Frères brick bracelet in white gold. This one has straight end links. Our friend John Reardon was the contact person for this watch when he was still at Christie’s in 2014 and it sold for CHF 2,045,000. I actually like this style of bracelet a lot; it looks a bit sportier this way.
Lastly is 888’055, which last showed up at Antiquorum in 2000. That watch went unsold and I don’t have much more info on what happened to the watch. I’m very curious, however, because a watch like this going unsold is very strange.
The Curious Case Of The Curious Reference 2497/2498
Here’s a unique watch I don’t really understand and I doubt anyone alive really knows what really happened, but I’ll try to break it down. When this watch – 888’027 – came to auction at Christie’s in 2010 and was referred to as a 2497/2498. That latter number, the 2498, designates a strange case design by Vichet that was largely legend otherwise only spoken about in literature or between private collectors. If you were paying attention, you’ll notice some similarities to “The Fullerton” ref. 2497 with elongated and more “polished” looking lugs. But that’s not all. I’ll let Christie’s break it down for you:
Photo: courtesy Christie’s
“The entire case body is also completely different to the better known 2497 style as thinner in height and less convex. Furthermore, the bezel is slightly convex whereas the normal 2497 is concave. Also the case back has its unique design and does not compare with any known shape of other perpetual calendar models from the period.”
The case matches one other unique watch, a ref. 2498 with movement no. 966’360, case no. 663’403, with the calibre 12”’120 Q found in the ref. 1526 (with subsidiary seconds). That’s why this example is known as the ref. 2497/2498. This is the kind of scholarship I think would go over really well to seasoned collectors today, but back in 2010, the watch net CHF 363,000. I think you could argue for twice that or more today.
The Ref. 2498 – A Lost Watch?
If you do some deep digging, you’ll find the aforementioned ref. 2498 in the annals of the Patek Philippe book by Huber and Banberry, but the watch shown in the book doesn’t seem to match Christie’s description of the 2498. Theoretically, this could be the most important ref. 2497 (even if it’s a 2498) because, as described, it would be both unique and the purest transitional reference between the 1526 and the 2497.
Christie’s says the watch should have the movement from the ref. 1526 – cal. 12‘“120Q – but there are no subsidiary seconds on the watch shown in the book. That watch has cubist numerals like the Fullerton but with German calendar wheels and center seconds. Does that mean that it might be two versions of the ref. 2498? Actually, according to John Reardon at Collectability, there were three 2498 made. But that only furthered my curiosity about the version with the caliber 12’”120Q. Thanks to help from a friend, I finally got my the first lead I had on the ref. 2498 (as it’s supposed to be) just two days before publication of this story.
The powerhouse auction of October 27, 198 included the ref. 2498, a Patek single-button chronograph and what looks like a pink-on-pink 1518. There’s also the Gene Clark No.4 from the American watchmaker, a openface four minute tourbillon watch with constant force, moon phases and power reserve.
It turns out the ref. 2498 (movement no. 966’360) was offered as lot 450 by Sotheby’s in their October 1998 New York sale. Thanks to Charles Tearle, Head of Watches at Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers in London, and his extensive catalog library, I was finally able to get standalone pictures of the watch from that sale. Their listing, which I’ve shared below, mentions the same curious difference with the Huber book and the fact that the ref. 2498 doesn’t appear in Patek’s catalog of perpetual calendars. Then, there are the images of the watch itself. In pictures, the bezel seems to have a fuller shape, like a later 3448, with very thin lugs that meet the case nearly vertically. It’s a weird watch, frankly, but a cool one from a historical standpoint, and it’s a Vichet to boot.
What’s interesting to me is that the watch went unsold, and at the time, Patek was very active in buying watches, posting record sales that no auction house would go without sharing. And yet, if you check Patek’s museum catalog, that’s where the watch ended up. Where the other two examples are, however, is still a mystery.
Pink On Pink
Speaking of watches in Patek’s museum, there’s one other example that will never see public sale again but is worth mentioning. This is the only pink-on-pink (rose gold, salmon dial) ref. 2497 ever made and one that sits solidly in the Patek museum. It also features leaf hands with a “Mark I” dial, making it all the more unusual. We have Revolution to thank for the great pictures of the watch, movement 888’028, which might be one of the few times this watch will ever be seen anywhere but through glass. Interestingly, another salmon dial shows up in the Patek Philippe book by Huber and Banberry, but with non-matching windows. Is it the same watch? Did Patek swap the date windows? I don’t know but someone certainly does, so let me know if that’s you.
Photo: courtesy Revolution
Photo: courtesy Revolution
The Peter Knoll
My colleague Tony did a great job covering the Peter Knoll watch when it last came up for auction. This watch, movement 888’041, would be your bog-standard (albeit fantastic) example of a rare first series 2497 in pink gold (with Vichet case). The story behind it and its former owner makes it an excellent watch for a collector who loves good provenance. It’s also a piece that a friend has owned in the past, which means it has a special place in my heart. It sold for a hefty CHF 1,497,000 when it appeared at Christie’s last year. I’ll let you read Tony’s piece, but this watch deserved a mention.
That’s my breakdown of all the rare and unusual references but that’s not to say a “plain” ref. 2497 in great condition isn’t a great watch. I also didn’t re-hash the rare versions of the sister reference, the ref. 2438/1, which I covered in the part 1. So now that you know what you’re looking for, what will it cost you?
The Buyers Guide
Knowledge will make you free, but a ref. 2497 is going to cost you. Buying one will cost even more if you accidentally pay more than you should because you don’t know what you’re looking for – and there’s a lot to look for.
If you’re looking at buying a ref. 2497 (or 2438/1), the same standard rules apply to almost every other vintage watch, especially vintage Patek. Condition is king and buy the seller. Either way, it won’t be cheap. But I’m here to make sure you get your money’s worth. I want to be clear: we will use some examples of some great and some less-than-stellar condition watches, but it’s not meant to indict the sellers. No auction house would likely ever turn down an otherwise correct ref. 2497 because of condition – even the worst condition watches are worth a lot of money. But excellent condition can mean a lot higher prices. Let’s start with cases.
Case Work
In Part 1, we talked about some of what makes the two series of cases from Vichet and Wenger different, but there are a few things you should look at when it comes to condition. The first and most obvious thing to look at is whether the case has been severely polished or even recut. Most cases (like most dials) have been touched at some point, but how much is the key. From the front, this should be obvious regarding how sharp and strong the lugs are and how defined the step on the lugs is. When you turn the watch over, the lugs shouldn’t be flat but, rather, have a faceted outside edge that goes from the tip to the case. Despite the lack of great pictures, the recently-sold pink ref. 2497 is (according to a trusted collector) the best example of this feature (and case condition in general).
Movement number 888’042, case 674’395 (Vichet) with solid lugs, rounded edges, great shape.
The back of the same watch where you can see that facet running from the outside edge of the lug to the case.
When you’ve got the watch upside down, you can look for other details. Inside the caseback is where you’ll find basic information like the casemaker, serial numbers, and the fineness stamp for the case metal. But there’s also the Swiss Helvetia bust hallmark on the back of the lugs and, in some instances on the side of the case or even side of the lugs (though these quickly disappear under polishing). Stamps weren’t always done to the same depth, so it’s not a guaranteed method, but if the hallmarks on the back of the lugs are gone or very shallow, you can tell that you’ve got a watch that’s been significantly polished. These hallmarks are the last to go, but a good first place to start to see how bad it’s gotten.
Hallmarks on a pink gold, luminous ref. 2438/1, which shares a lot with the ref. 2497.
Movement number 888’127, case 696’490 (Wenger), has been polished (which you can see from the edges) of the case, but the Helvetia bust looks a bit deeper than in other instances.
Movement number 888’008, case 674’373 (Vichet), where you can see how soft the edges are and how shallow the Helvetia bust looks.
A stamp on the top left lug of the platinum ref. 2497, movement number 888’075, case number 687’949 (Wenger).
On Wenger cases, there’s also a little secret if you know to look. The casemaker hid the last three digits of the case serial number on the inside in the top left lug. These shouldn’t be polished, but sometimes straps can wear them down from friction, especially close to the lug hole.
Movement number 888’127, case 696’490 (Wenger), with the case serial stamped in that left lug. You can see where the strap has polished away the inside of the lug a bit.
Last but not least, recut cases. Again, this is not an indictment of any auction house or seller, but here’s a great example of what a before and after on a recut case looks like. It’s pretty obvious that with flat, striated edges on the flat section of the bottom of the lug, plus the brushed finishing on the side of the lug. Funny enough, in both instances Christie’s sold the watch and it got recut between the sales.
It’s hard to tell but you can see that the Vichet case on movement number 888’021, case number 674’380 was pretty soft when it came up for sale in 2006 at Christie’s.
In 2024, the lugs (and the step to them) were more defined. It’s aesthetically more pleasing but less original.
Here you can see the back of the lugs more closely.
The Dials
As Tony Traina recently mentioned in a recent story, Patek dials usually have some degree of restoration. If they didn’t, you’d end up with something like the watch below, which has a large level of discoloration and spotting. You can see the original dial color around the strange insignia that was added at 12 o’clock and tell that it’s not supposed to look like this. While some folks might find this orange hue charming (I kind of do), it’s not what people are generally looking for with their high-value Patek buys.
A Patek ref. 2438/1 that sold at Antiquorum in 2014, with a very patinated dial.
It’s worth doing a separate in-depth story on dial construction, but at the time, dials on a watch like the ref. 2497 were made so they could be washed or cleaned, much of which was done by Patek themselves at the time. Others were even redone completely (to varying degrees of success) and untouched dials in great condition are hard to come by. While I didn’t go through each example I cataloged exhaustively, the same issues plaguing other Patek dials (the missing accent over the “e” in Genève being one) appeared frequently. So too did the striations you would find on any dial that has been sanded, as well as raised text where the enameled numerals or signature stood in relief from the dial which had layers carefully (or not so carefully) removed.
The windows on a Patek ref. 2497 date windows need extra attention, as does the signature on a potentially cleaned dial. Here you can see the missing accent on Genève and missing pieces of some of the date numerals. Photo: courtesy Christie’s
One of the more obvious things you can look for is the strength of the dial windows. The same goes when evaluating a 1526, 1518, 2499, 3448/3450, etc. While doing the normal check of the dial enameling and signature for originality, careful buyers should also look at these under a loupe or even microscope to see how sharp these windows are or if they’ve potentially been “recut.” Sometimes you don’t need a loupe at all. Above is an example of a dial where the edges are at least sharp. Below is a watch with rounded windows from dial work which impacted the value (though the watch still sold for €321,000, it was a Vichet example that would have otherwise been worth much more).
You can also see the holes for the indexes poking peaking out below the “1” on “10” and “12” which is a sign that the dial was worked on. During a restoration, the holes for indices are often opened up slightly, making them bigger and more apparent, which is more visible from the rear.
Movement number 888’025, case number 674’384 (Vichet).
This is a restored dial of a ref. 2499 sold at Phillips Hong Kong in 2021. It’s actually a positive that Phillips shared pictures like this on request, and you can see the slightly enlarged holes for the indices which are visible to the naked eye.
Here is an example of an unrestored 2499. You can see how small the holes for indices on the dial are.
The same unrestored dial.
If you’re a serious bidder on a ref. 2497, you can ask the auction house for photos of the dial alone for a better look at things like the sanding marks or windows. But you can also look at the back of the dial and edge of the case to make sure it’s the correct dial for the movement. the movement number should be visible both on the dial edge and on the back of the dial, but sometimes those markings disappear.
Movement number 888’127, case 696’490 (Wenger), has the dial number etched into the side of the dial plate. Photo: courtesy Christie’s
On the back of the dial you can see the dial feet but, personally, I don’t see the movement number clearly, though there’s a number of marks that might be the number.
The Fullerton, movement 888’000, has the number visible vertically on the right hand side of the image.
There is one other dial variation I didn’t point out in Part 1 that is worth mentioning: flat dials. There are at least five known watches with “flat” first series dials (missing the incut area around the moonphase). It’s something you see on some rare examples of the ref. 1518 and ref. 2499. For the ref. 2497, watches with this design included a number of unique watches and some more “standard” production, including the Fullerton (888’000), the platinum piece with diamonds (888’029), 888’031, the Haile Selassie, and 888’096.
A flat first series dial 2497. Photo: courtesy Christie’s
The Extra Sauce
There’s one thing about movements I didn’t mention in Part 1 and I’ve yet to see any information that it impacts the value of these watches but, hey, we’re in a “go for broke” kind of phase with sharing knowledge. If you look at the two watches below, you’ll notice something different about the shock absorber holding the jewel for the balance wheel. It’s barely noticeable, but anecdotally (and thanks to the note from a friend for pointing this out) the earlier shock absorber on the balance had a Calatrava cross shape. Later shock absorbers were just round. These don’t always appear sequentially by serial number, so it’s possible they got replaced during servicing with a newer (or potentially better) part, but its just a fun detail to share.
The old style absorber on movement 888’015.
The newer style on movement 888’042.
Notice anything else different about the two movements above? The watch on the left, despite having the older shock absorber spring for the balance, actually has a newer balance. Original balances on the ref. 2497 are bimetallic, as shown on the right. At some point between 1957 and 1960, Patek started using one piece balances like show in the white gold model above. That is the transition era for the ref. 2499 balances, but since almost all 2497s (and 2438/1s) were finished before that date, most would have original bi-metallic balances. It’s the mix in the later series (movement 178 has a bi-metallic but 172 doesn’t, for instance) is likely because it was a transitional period, but a watch as early as 015 likely had the balance replaced at some point.
There are a few other unusual examples of dials worth noting as well. Number 888’012 is a Vichet case but a second series dial – the watch sat unsold for 20 years, so Patek switched the dial out, and it has some other unusual features to the dial track. In 2011, Christie’s sold number 888’068 with an extract-confirmed doré first series dial, which is quite stunning. Lastly, Sotheby’s once sold a Hausmann & Co.-signed third series watch (number 888’155) in the pre-Internet catalog days.
Finally, only six standard production ref. 2497 examples have their certificate of origin: movement nos. 888’017 – ‘048 – ‘059 – ‘155 and ‘178. You can also look for other little things to differentiate examples, like stamps on movements or notations in cases (two examples of HOX stamped movements, a case stamped inside “G&Co.Ld” for Garrard & Co, and a stock number 204644+Z3 for Beyer). And, as mentioned before, there is only one yellow and one pink ref. 2497 with German calendars.
Photo of the Garrard & Co. ref. 2497. Photo: courtesy Christie’s
Prepping Your Wallet
What should you expect to pay? Well, it’s complicated. Another shout-out to Tony’s coverage of that pink ref. 2497 at a small regional auction house; it was proof that there are no “deals” to find anymore. But the market has been up and down the past few years, and timing is everything.
One rare example – the white gold watch I photographed for the story – has edged close to the record for the reference, reaching CHF 2.8 million, still 400,000 short of the platinum Breguet-numeral example. To me, that shows that current collectors would rather wait for rare variations than buy the stand model (no matter how few “standard” watches exist). It’s also been over a decade since a platinum example has come to market, so it would likely reframe everything we know about the potential for the reference.
The more finely cut windows on the Gumbiner ref. 2497.
As for the regular production pieces, I had originally tried to find some sort of guide by taking the sales average over the last five years, but there are so many nuances and variables that it became too messy. Vichet case results were dragged down by two examples with issues, but you should expect to pay about CHF 500,000 for a good true first series in yellow gold and at least double (or even close to triple) that amount for one in pink gold. Again, a dealer told me that the pink Vichet 2497 that sold recently in Spain was worth up to CHF 1.4 million to an end client, if he was pricing it out. The average second series (Wenger/Arabic) has averaged around CHF 400,000 over the last five years, but there’s still a world where you might find one for around CHF 350,000 in this market. Finally, third series examples lag far behind – CHF 206,345 for the two that have come up for sale in that period.
What does that all mean? I expected the delta between Vichet and Wenger cases to be larger. I’d also argue that the third series is a great way into the reference – though my bias toward the dial is clearly showing. At that point, collectors with larger budgets may also gravitate toward the rarer yet visually similar ref. 2438/1, leaving a bit of leeway for other collectors to pick up an important watch in the third series ref. 2497.
The Legacy
The ref. 3448 overlapped the ref. 2497 by a year and continued to 1981, and continued the “two window, one subdial” perpetual calendar design that started with the ref. 1526. With the introduction of the ref. 3940 in 1985, the brand used subdials to indicate everything you’d need from a perpetual calendar (like Blancpain, AP, and others). That also means they lost some of what made the early QPs iconic. Patek didn’t make another center-seconds perpetual calendar until the reference 5050, which came out in 1993, 30 years after the discontinuation of the ref. 2497, and that design was, well, something.
The Patek 5050 which was the next center-seconds perpetual calendar, but does it even feel connected?
The ref. 2497 (or potentially ref. 2438/1) did have a little bit of a pop culture moment in the spotlight a few years ago, courtesy of Charlie Sheen. The man has had an “interesting time” when it comes to Patek’s perpetual calendars. He lost/was robbed of a Patek 5970 at the Plaza Hotel in 2010 and then a year later showed up wearing Babe Ruth’s championship ring and a watch that by now should be quite familiar to you. The kicker? Sheen stated that this watch was “the only watch that keeps Warlock time.” That lead to the (rarely used) nickname for the reference that someone pointed out in the comments of Part 1: Warlock Timers.
Back in non-Warlock land, you can see touches of the ideas from 2497 in things like Patek’s modern annual calendar ref. 5396, which was updated this year, and more specifically in the ref. 5320G. While the dial was – according to Patek – specifically inspired by the ref. 1591 in steel with luminous hands and indices, the case features a stepped-lug design similar to Vichet and Wenger cases (though with a triple-step lug and straighter bezel). The ref. 1591 had a closed track around the seconds and date, whereas the 5320G has a more open track like the first series dials of the 2497.
The Patek ref. 1591 that (in large part) inspired the ref. 5320G.
The Patek Philippe ref. 5320G that feels much more connected to the ref. 2497’s history.
In the end, the reasons behind why the ref. 2497 was overshadowed are probably more evident than I thought. But it’s a watch that I’ve (somewhat begrudgingly) started to love for what it represented at that moment in time for Patek. Call it Stockholm Syndrome after writing these articles, but the ref. 2497 is an important, albeit a strongly transitional, aesthetic reference for the brand, even if it spent it’s time living in the shadow of the ultimate icon – the ref. 2499. Maybe Patek took too long to realize that times were changing and the watch needed a refresh to either stand out on its own or fit in with its big brother. They eventually decided on the latter, and the watch was discontinued shortly after. What that left us with was a watch that was so shortly lived that I think we’ve only scratched the surface on the collectibility of the reference.
A special thanks to John Goldberger for his images and Ashok Viswanathan for his input on Part 2 of the series.
Hodinkee
