Patek Philippe "Dorè" Dial Reference 3940J Unpolished & Extract

This Patek Philippe reference 3940 in yellow gold is a rare and uncommon model from the early period of the amazing reference 3940. Whereas the earliest examples of the Patek Philippe reference 3940 only had a solid case back. This example for sale dates to 1985.  Starting in the early 1990s, Patek Philippe made the 3940 models with both exhibition and solid case backs except for the platinum model, which only had a solid case back for the entirety of its run.

The references 3940 is arguably the most elegant Patek Philippe watches made over the last 40 years. The watch is powered by the self-winding calibre 240Q with microrotor, which when released was the thinnest automatic perpetual calendar movement available. The case is 36mm, and it comes on tan strap. We believe the case remains unpolished. The watch shows little wear and features crisp hallmarks, which is extremely rare for reference 3940s. The dial is a very beautiful "dorè" dial. 

The watch comes with an Extract from the Archives indicating a production of 1985. It is believed this watch was in the first ten 3940s made after the original Beyer series.

It includes a beautiful 18k gold mesh bracelet to make the watch even more elegant.

There is no question that the special 3940s and 3970s are some of the most in-demand models these days. The holy grail 3940s are the first 25 3940s made for Beyer with the beautiful doré dials. Of those, the first 15 have German dials (yuck!) and number 16-25 have English dials (hooray!). In 2022, number 19 sold for over $386,000 USD at auction. I heard of another example selling for over $450,000 around that time. Just last month, number 12 with a German dial (yuck!) sold at auction in France for over $300,000 USD, although the auction house requires you to pay to see the results and we could not figure out how to pay them to get the exact number. Number 1 was presented to the Beyer family and is seen in the late Rene Beyer’s Talking Watches episode. Number 2 was originally owned by the legendary super collector Dr. Eugene Gschwind (1921-1991) of Basel, Switzerland and is now owned by the Stern family who owns Patek Philippe. The watch is on display at the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva on the fifth floor in a glass case on the wall near the library. Eric quoted Dr. Gschwind in his talk to the Horological Society of New York in 2019: “One must know how to purchase exceptional objects today, at tomorrow’s prices.” Unfortunately, Dr. Gschwind’s old watch is quite overpolished (like so many watches in the Patek Philippe Museum), although it will presumably never be resold so it doesn’t matter anyways!

This early example with the early dial featuring the more vintage PATEK PHILIPPE font is probably rarer than those 25 examples with Beyer dials. And for some collectors, having the cleaner dial without a retail signature is preferred. These early doré dials are truly sensational and a bit more metallic than later doré dials we have sold, although we would not turn down any of them!

If I was a betting man, I would probably place a bet that this watch is going to go up in value significantly in the coming years. And even if it doesn't, it is so difficult to find one of these early examples, let alone in this unpolished and beautiful condition. Maybe we should all take the advice of the original owner of No. 2 and buyer this exceptional watch today!

This is a firm price, lowball scumbags and tire kickers need not try! Scram!

PRICE: (SBUXYT4085)