Dear friends of IWS, welcome back to our magazine where today we are going to explore together, one of the most famous references in the world of collecting.
Patek Philippe has always been famous for creating highly fascinating and, at the same time, highly complicated timepieces. Two ingredients that made all the collectors of the world start what I can call the “chase” for the brand’s hottest references.
Among these, the reference we are going to look at today in detail, 2499, undoubtedly deserves a noteworthy mention.
At this point, all that remains for me to do is to tell you to arm yourself with a pen and paper to take notes on all the details we are going to uncover, throughout this article, so that you can be prepared for any upcoming Patek perpetual calendar-themed discussion.
The Ancestor: ref. 1518
Before we get to talk about the iconic reference 2499 introduced in 1950, we need to take a step back to the year 1941. In that year, Patek Philippe introduced an unusual watch for the time: the world’s first mass-produced perpetual calendar chronograph.
Questo orologio è la leggendaria referenza 1518, diventato un vero e proprio oggetto di culto ai giorni nostri tanto da essere ritenuto da alcuni dei collezionisti più importanti al mondo, tra cui Sandro Fratini, l’orologio più bello mai prodotto nella storia. La referenza 1518, oggetto del desiderio di ogni appassionato del mondo delle lancette, venne prodotta fino al 1954.
This watch is the legendary Reference 1518, which has become such a cult object in the present day that it is considered by some of the world’s leading collectors, including Sandro Fratini, to be the most beautiful watch ever produced in history. Reference 1518, the object of desire for every enthusiast in the world of hands, was produced until 1954.
The Reference 2499 by Patek Philippe
Ten years after the introduction of the 1518 reference, the maison decided to make a further model with similar characteristics but a different design-and thus a different reference-the 2499. Thus, 1951 saw the birth of the first successor to the 1518 being part of the maison’s iconic perpetual calendar dynasty. The Patek Philippe ref. 2499 was produced from 1950 to 1985. It is estimated that a total of 349 pieces were made over these nearly 35 years, with a production of about 10 pieces per year.
Of the 349 examples produced, the reference 2499 was made mostly in yellow gold, many fewer in rose gold. In addition, Patek Philippe made only 2 examples in platinum. To date, among the known versions, the platinum version is certainly the rarest and most desired of all.
Currently the two extremely rare platinum Patek Philippe watches have resided at the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva and within a private collection since 2012, when the watch was sold at auction by guitarist Eric Clapton.
Immediately following these two specimens are, in terms of rarity, the rose gold case versions of which it is speculated that only between 40 and 50 specimens total exist.
I would also like to point out that “rumors” would also seem to indicate the presence of an extremely limited number, of 2499 models in white gold, but I repeat, since they have never appeared on the market and have not yet been cataloged, this is purely a hypothesis.
As for the shape of the case, the difference in shape from the previous ref. 1518, which took its cue from the more classical forms in full compliance with the stylistic canons of watches of that era, may immediately jump out at you. Reference 2499, in fact, features a case with more modern dimensions.
It should be pointed out that throughout the period of the reference’s implementation, there was neither a single diameter nor a single supplier as far as cases were concerned.
Animating what I believe to be one, if not the most beautiful perpetual calendar chronograph from the maison, we find the caliber 13-130 based on an in-house modified Valjoux ébauche already found on the predecessor reference 1518.
This movement, was also used throughout the production period of reference 2499 until, it was replaced with a Lemania caliber that found its place inside the heir to 2499, namely reference 3970.
During the 35 years of production of Reference 2499, Patek Philippe has made more or less obvious changes to the model. This naturally created, for the collector’s way, a division of production into 4 main series. Let’s find out about them individually in detail.
I Patek Philippe 2499 First Series
This first series is certainly the most similar to the previous reference 1518. In some ways, also a source of misunderstanding for novices. In fact, the first thing we notice are the rectangular chronograph buttons, just as with ref. 1518.
Produced from 1950 to 1960, the first series of the Patek Philippe 2499 features a dial above which are arranged applied Arabic numerals and a tachymeter scale, again in much the same manner as its predecessor.
Specimens of this series are extremely rare as it is assumed that a total of 40 units were produced of which, most in yellow gold and only very few in rose gold.
For the first two years of the series, the cases were produced by Vichet. According to watchesbysjx, four in rose gold and about ten in yellow gold. After the Vichet interlude, Patek Philippe turned to Wenger.
Vichet’s cases feature a 36 mm diameter, a flat case back to protect the movement, and elongated lugs.
The cases produced by Wenger, on the other hand, possess a diameter of 37.5 mm with a back that is no longer flat, but convex, and less elongated lugs. Thanks to a recent discovery, what was thought to be a clear dividing line between the two periods of case production seems to have been disproven.
In fact, two examples sold and signed by Serpico Y Laino are known to have appeared in 2022 in two international auctions that, despite being dated to 1952, possess a case made by Wenger making, to date, these two examples subsequent to each other, in terms of movement and case numbering, the only two examples of 2499 produced with a Wenger case during the period when Vichet cases for the first series were still in production.
The dial of the first series has an aesthetic almost identical to Reference 1518 except for some dial-to-dial variations within the same series. For example, the date ring can be either delimited (as with reference 1518) or, most commonly, open.
The Patek Philippe ref. 2499 Second Series
Turning instead to the second series, we see the most obvious change of all in terms of design as the rectangular chronograph keys are replaced with round keys that will find their place until the end of production of the reference.
Produced from about 1953 until 1960, parallel to the first series, this version of Patek Philippe ref. 2499 features a 37.5 mm case supplied only by Wenger. The metals used, again, are mainly yellow gold and rose gold for only 10 specimens assumed, of which 8 are known.
As with the first series, what appears to be a dividing line here is actually nothing more than a nuance in that, there are some rare examples of the second series with cases produced by the previous supplier company, namely Vichet.
The reason why there may have been a supply of cases for the second series also from Vichet can be explained by making a note about water resistance. It is believed that Patek Philippe before having the cases with round keys produced by Wenger entrusted the production of a case with round keys to Vichet. It is likely that the cases produced by Vichet with round keys, i.e., those best suited to guarantee the watch’s water resistance because of their conformation, were not able to meet the standards of the maison.
At the dial level, however, in this second series we always find the presence of Arabic numeral hour markers but, unlike the first series, also another configuration with baton hour markers. Like the previous series, we also find the presence of the tachymeter scale on the outside of the dial.
The Patek Philippe Ref. 2499 Third Series
The production of the third series was roughly between 1958 and 1978 and, therefore, always straddled the production of both the second and first series. In this third series the cases were produced and supplied only by Wenger and made, like the second series, always with a diameter of 37.5 mm.
The difference on the dial is immediate: the tachymeter scale at the edge of the dial is missing. Also, for the third series are available are baton hour markers, Arabic numerals are abolished. A further difference, again at the dial level, is the abandonment, from the 1970s onward, of engraved/enameled dials in favor of printed ones. The main difference at the concrete level lies in the three-dimensionality that enameled engraving gives to the dial as opposed to a flatter printed one.
The Patek Philippe ref. 2499 Fourth Series
The production of this last series finally took place between 1978 and 1985. In fact, Patek Philippe entrusted this version with a specific reference, the 2499/100 so much so as to even question the concept of a fourth series.
At first glance, it appears somewhat similar to its predecessor because of the round chronograph pushers, the applied baton hour markers, and the absence of the tachymeter scale.
The substantial difference in the latter series, lies in the choice to equip the watch with a sapphire crystal to protect the dial which, was made with the use of a larger font for the date numerals unlike the previous versions; a choice that, for reasons of space, also caused the minute indication “30” to disappear from the minute marker outside the dial.
During this time frame, 37.5 mm diameter cases were always made by Wenger but only until 1982. From that year until 1985, in fact, the cases were produced by Patek Philippe itself through the maison’s acquisition of Ateliers Réunis S.A., a Geneva-based company that manufactured watch cases.
Within this last series we also place the two very rare and only examples of the model made in platinum.
Final thoughts
When we talk about Patek Philippe, especially vintage Patek Philippe, there are rare instances when one cannot be enraptured and amazed by the beauty of their creations.
Always famous for making extremely fascinating complications, the perpetual calendar chronograph has always been the prefect combination of the house, a source of research by many collectors in every expression above different references.
Reference 2499 undoubtedly represents the forerunner of the models of this type and without which, most likely, its successors would never have been realized.
What has undoubtedly made this reference famous is certainly the ability of the house to have created a watch that already laid the foundation for an iconic design and, at the same time, already modern for the time in which it was conceived.
Indeed, suffice it to say that, even today, the house’s modern perpetual chronograph calendars feature the same shapes in terms of design and the same functions in terms of complications.
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