Though the famous Calatrava is — for good reason — perhaps the best known of Patek Philippe’s incredible dress watches, there are myriad others that deserve recognition.
From the rectangular Gondolo to the curvaceous Golden Ellipse, these timepieces, though simple in design, beg a closer look for their classic proportions and strict attention to detail. Patek has been producing such wristwatches for roughly a century of its 180-plus years, and shows no signs of slowing down.
The particular dress watch we have here, however, is special: Dating to the middle of World War II, it’s a Reference 425 with a ‘Tegolino’ rectangular case. This reference debuted in 1934 and was in production until 1960 when it was superseded by the Reference 2461 — quite a run for a single model, if you ask us. Art Deco-inspired and classically handsome, it stood alongside the Calatrava Reference 96 in the Patek catalog as one of the maison’s flagship dress watches.
Housed in a 20mm rose gold ‘Tegolino’ case with a faceted acrylic crystal, it features a matching salmon Stern Freres dial with applied indices, a matching dauphine handset, an sub-seconds register at 6:00 with a feuille hand, and is Patek Philippe's Calibre 9'90 manual winding movement within.
Historically significant, fetching, and in impressive condition, this Reference 425 comes with an extract from the Patek Philippe archives detailing its manufacture date of 1943 and its sale date of May 9, 1944 — just under a month before the invasion of Europe by Allied forces.
Surely, if you can find a more compelling time-only dress watch to tell us about, we’re all ears. But if not, may we suggest this ‘Tegolino!’