The Patek Philippe Ellipse is a mainstay of their range, designed around the golden section. Model reference 3546
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
You can get an extract from the archives from Patek Philippe, but they have recently increased the price from CHF 150 to CHF 500 (about £400/€500/$500), which is a lot for a piece of paper. Fortunately we have had this same refence before, that had an extract, and that watch was sold in December 1974 and had a case number about 40,000 more than this watch. Using this datum we can estimate this watch was made circa 1972.
CONDITION
The Golden Section is a ratio used for many centuries as a rule of proportion. It is difficult to explain how it works, but it works! And in 1968 Patek Philippe applied this rule to a watch case, which unsurprisingly looks right! The Golden Ellipse model has been in the Patek Philippe range ever since, with lots of variety in size, movement and dials. The latest model is automatic, larger, and £26,230 in yellow gold (strangely the platinum cased version is £43k, but platinum is worth less than gold currently. Can’t explain that!?).
Reference 3546 is a little more unusual than most. Most references have a central mounting point for the strap, but 3546 has conventional lugs. This example has the gold dial and roman numerals, original hands and the signed original crown too. Winding that powers the 18 jewel calibre 23-300 movement, which was finely adjusted to five positions, and of course it is beautifully made. The dial is original, the 18k gold case has light scratches but nothing significant, and everything is working nicely. The lizard strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour if preferred.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 28.4 mm
Width without crown 26.8 mm
Between lugs 18 mm
Lug to lug length 34.8 mm
Case Thickness 6.1 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.
