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Auction 109
Lot 178

109th Auction

2023/11/18

Lot 178

Patek Philippe
Nautilus

A legendary neo-vintage Geneva wristwatch from the first edition of the classic Nautilus Midsize reference 3800. In July 2023 the watch was given a revision. With Patek Philippe extract from the archives, dated August 9th, 2023 and Patek Philippe service box

Sold

estimated
30.000—45.000 €
Price realized
40.000 €
Our current catalogue
specific features
Case
18 K gold, screwed on bezel, bracelet length 150 mm, total length 185 mm.
Dial
Gold, bar-like texture, "O SWISS O" designation, applied tritium indexes and tritium baton hands.
Movement
Automatic.
Case no.2803800
Ref.3800/001
Cal.335SC aut.
Diam.37,5 mm
Circa1983
Ctry.Switzerland
Wt.135 g


The successor to the first Nautilus model Ref. 3700, this slightly smaller Nautilus is the perfect accessory and an absolute joy on the wrist. It has a beautiful gold case and an excitingly shimmering dial in a warm golden hue with a black contrasting date. The watch was always very carefully looked after and was serviced at Wempe jewellers in Hamburg in July 2023, where the greatest possible care was taken to preserve its originality. It is first-hand, was manufactured in 1983 and was sold on January, 24th 1984.


In 1976 Patek Philippe launched its first Nautilus model. At this time, luxury sports watches are expected to be as thin as possible, so this large watch with its brawny ship's porthole design is completely novel.
In 1981 Patek Philippe presented a slightly updated version of the 3700, a midsize watch with a diameter of 37.5 mm and central second - the reference 3800 "Nautilus". While the original Nautilus movement had been a Jaeger-LeCoultre ebauche calibre 28-255C, this timepiece was fitted with a proprietary, flat automatic movement calibre 335SC.
Reference 3800 was produced in four editions:
The first series was produced until 1988 with calibre 335SC with 29 jewels, featuring 28,800 oscillations/minute; the series started with movement no. 1,420,000. The second series was produced until 1992 and used the same calibre 335SC but with an improved data corrector system; the series started with movement no. 1,426,000. The third series was produced until 1997 and fitted with the improved calibre 330 134 (330SC); the series started with movement no. 1,930,000. The fourth and last series was produced until 2006 with calibre 330 194 (330SC), featuring 21,600 oscillations/minute; the series started with movement no. 3,020,000. In 2006 Patek Philippe updated the complete Nautilus range and replaced reference 3800 with the new reference 5800.