The Complete Collector’s Guide to the Patek Philippe Calatrava

The year 1932 turned out to be an important one in the history of Patek Philippe. First, the company was acquired by the Stern family, which still owns and runs the company today. Second, the new owners introduced the reference 96 dress watch, which would later be considered the first Calatrava. These two events have impacted nearly everything the company has done since.

In 1932, the watch industry was in a bad place. Europe has just started to seriously rebuild after World War I and then the Great Depression cratered the global economy. Selling ornate, luxurious pocket watches to the world’s wealthiest people was no longer a winning formula. Even the world’s top watchmakers had to adapt and find new ways to drive business and keep themselves afloat until cash started flowing more freely again.

Patek Philippe’s answer to this challenge was the reference 96 – a simple, three-hand dress watch with a 31mm diameter case featuring long, wide-set lugs and a simple dial with a subsidiary seconds display. It was understated, embodying early modernist design principles, and was much simpler to make than the minute repeaters and chronographs the company was well known for at the time. Today we think of a watch with these proportions as small, but at the time this was a straight-down-the-middle design that felt very much of-the-moment and was intended to appeal to a broad audience. It even veered toward being fashionable, something that can rarely be said about watches from this period.

“While Patek Philippe may be celebrated for its complications, the Calatrava is equally iconic and instantly recognizable,” says Geoff Hess, Sotheby’s Global Head of Watches. “The reference 96 was the brand’s first serially produced wristwatch and, timeless in its simplicity, it became the brand’s most classic creation – and a foundational model on which future designs would be built.”

The watch caught on relatively quickly and remained in production all the way until 1973. During that time it evolved and spawned related models, yet that 31mm dress watch with a manually-wound movement and simple dial continued to be a pillar of the Patek Philippe brand for over four decades before it was eventually retired. Luckily for both Patek Philippe and collectors, the reference 96 was just the start. The design language that it introduced and the style of watchmaking it embodies have continued to be important for the brand, even today.

While the reference 96 is seen today as the first Calatrava, it would never have been called that during its four-decade production run. The name “Calatrava” didn’t come into use until 1985, when Patek officially began using it as the moniker for its line of classic dress watches. Collectors have retroactively applied it to the watches from previous eras that fit this mold, so today this milestone is more a footnote than anything else.

Watches

The Complete Guide to Patek Philippe Watch Collecting

While the original Calatrava might seem basic at first glance, there’s a surprising amount of variation among its three hands, 12 hour markers and round case. Different archetypes of Calatravas emerged over the course of the 20th century, and even today Patek continues to refine and redefine the line, with some models now even housing complications. As a collector, you’ll want to understand the key distinctions so that you can find the right Calatrava for your own collection.

The Calatrava began with a subsidiary seconds sub-dial at 6-o’clock. The earliest versions of the reference 96 utilize LeCoultre movements, and it’s unclear whether the decision to go with a small seconds display dictated this choice or the other way around. Either way, that was the defining look of the Calatrava for its first few years.

However, Patek switched to the in-house Calibre 12”’120 in 1934, and soon after that a center-seconds version of the movement was introduced. By the mid 1930s, very small numbers of center-seconds reference 96 watches appeared. These are relatively rare and are highly collectible today. A proper center-seconds cousin to the 96 emerged a few years later in the reference 565 and reference 570, which also featured slightly larger cases. (It’s important to note that the 565 was made in both center-seconds and small-seconds variants, and even a handful of small-seconds 570s exist too; with watches from this period, it’s never an exact science.)

Since then, there have typically been both center-seconds and subsidiary-seconds versions of the Calatrava available at the same time. Sometimes they were on offer with similar styling, and other times they were offered as two completely separate sub-collections with their own design traits and technical flourishes. Knowing which route you want to go will help you majorly narrow down the number of references you need to look at and give you a better sense of what case, movement and dial options might be available, too.

When the reference 96 first debuted, it was mainly available in yellow gold, with a few rare stainless-steel pieces made along the way. As the Calatrava came into its own, it also started being offered in additional metals, such as white gold, rose gold and platinum. Certain pairings are rarer and more desirable, while others are more common and approachable. Yellow gold with a white dial, for example, is probably the most common, while platinum with diamond hour markers or pink gold with a matching pink-gold dial are much rarer and will command a significant premium.

However, the most sought-after Calatravas of all are those in non-precious metals. The early steel reference 96 often came paired with sportier dials than their more expensive siblings and draw a lot of attention when they come to market. This is even more true of the slightly larger mid-century Calatrava references such as the reference 530, reference 565 and reference 570, where steel models can sell for millions of dollars. Remember, these watches were born during a time of economic depression between two World Wars (and sometimes during WWII); it was difficult to make fine watches out of rationed steel, and finding an example in good condition today is no easy feat. Many were special commissions, making them literally one-of-a-kind masterpieces.

The rarest of the rare Calatravas though are those produced in titanium. Only a handful are known to have ever been made, since Patek Philippe traditionally does not work with the lightweight metal. The most unusual is an officer-style Calatrava from the early 2000s that featured a titanium case with a massive diamond set into the caseback, allowing the wearer to see the movement through the stone’s facets. It fetched over $700,000 at Sotheby’s New York in 2014.

Since its inception, the Calatrava was always a simple, straightforward watch. The first few iterations showed the time – hours, minutes, seconds – and nothing else. It wouldn’t be until 1961 that this changed with the introduction of the reference 3445. For the very first time, a Calatrava had a date window at 3-o’clock, paired with automatic winding. This was the moment that the Calatrava truly became a platform and a design language as much as a single watch archetype. Patek Philippe continued to evolve the line down this path while typically keeping more restrained options in the collection for the purists, too.

The reference 3445 remained in production for around 20 years, and during that time only one other major complication was added to the collection: the reference 6000/6006. This watch still featured the time and date, but the date display utilized a central hand with the days of the month sitting around the dial’s outer edge. It was a pretty out-there design when it debuted in 1977 and it has remained an important milestone in the model’s history.

Today, the Calatrava is available with or without a date complication. Typically, the dressier models with subsidiary seconds do not have a date (such as the reference 6119), while the more contemporary models with center seconds do have the date (such as the reference 5227). This is not a hard-and-fast rule, but it does seem to be the most common paradigm looking back over Patek’s last 20 years or so.

Watches

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When evaluating watches that share a strong design language and only have three hands, it’s easy for everything to start looking and sounding the same. The best way to truly understand the Calatrava is to look at the watches themselves, to break down the key innovations and changes, and to understand the role each model plays in the history of the line overall. From there, you’ll have the understanding necessary to start looking for a Calatrava of your own.

The reference 96 is the watch that started it all, and it is still a classic beloved by collectors today. Since it was in continuous production for over 40 years, there are truly countless variations of the 96 to be found if you search hard enough.

The most common variant is one with a yellow-gold case, a silver dial with subsidiary seconds and applied stick markers, with similar models in white gold following just behind. But the esoteric end of the spectrum is where things get really interesting. “There are versions of the reference 96 with sector dials, black dials, Clous de Paris bezels (reference 96D), Breguet numeral dials, observatory dials and more,” says Hess when asked about the more special examples he’s seen.

“Condition is key for any vintage watch,” Hess continues, “however, given their age, most reference 96 watches have undergone some level of restoration. The key is to look for examples that have been properly and professionally restored.”

When the reference 96 was still in production, Patek Philippe spent the middle decades of the 20th century continuing to evolve and refine its flagship dress watch. New references were introduced throughout the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, and many of these watches now sit in the pantheon of the most sought-after vintage Patek Philippe watches overall. The reference 530 had larger dimensions, the reference 570 added a center seconds model, the reference 565 introduced the first waterproof case for a Calatrava and the reference 2526 added an automatic movement and a screw-down caseback (along with its iconic enamel dial).

“The reason these references are so often discussed is because each marks a key milestone in Patek Philippe’s history, says Hess about these watches’ popularity. “But for a true collector, the appeal goes far beyond the ‘firsts.’ It’s about appreciating the full spectrum of variations – just like someone collecting a reference 1518 perpetual calendar chronograph will likely also seek out the 2499, 3970, 5970, etc.”

The other models you’ll want to look out for include the references 1491, 2431, 2457, 2532, 3440 and 3438, among others. When looking for a classic, mid-century Calatrava, it really comes down to knowing if you want a larger or smaller watch, if you prefer center or small seconds and knowing what your budget is. From that starting point, there are myriad excellent options to choose from.

The first appearance of Clous de Paris, or hobnail, finishing on a Calatrava is the reference 96D, which featured just a slim textured bezel on an otherwise typical yellow-gold reference 96 in 1934. This traditional guilloché technique remained a curiosity in the collection for decades, until the release of the reference 3520D in 1972, which brought back that same bezel treatment, most often paired with a bright white dial featuring slim black Roman numerals and just two hands.

This watch was something of a slow burn for Patek Philippe. At 32mm, it was small for the time, but Patek eventually started to iterate on the design. In 1983 the brand introduced a larger version with an automatic movement, center seconds and date display in the reference 3802, and just a few years later in 1985 released the reference 3919, still the most well-known Calatrava of this type. It was slightly larger at 33.5mm, but still razor thin. This watch largely defined Patek Philippe during the 1980s when it was a symbol of wealth and success, leaning into its slightly anachronistic look.

Since then, the hobnail bezel has continued to appear in the Patek collection, almost always paired with that classic Roman numeral dial. Watches like the references 4908, 4919, 5115 and 5120 each put their own spin on things, with slightly different features and executions. In the modern era, the hobnail finishing is sometimes applied to the case band itself, too, in watches such as the reference 5226, an otherwise extremely modern take on the Calatrava archetype.

How to Collect

5 Entry-Level Patek Philippe Watches to Start Your Collection

With so many vintage models to choose from, it would be easy to overlook more contemporary Calatrava models – but you would be missing out on some fantastic watches, if you did.

In 2004, Patek released the reference 5196, essentially a purist’s take on the model but with updated proportions and mechanics. The 37mm case was available in a variety of metals, but all came with the Caliber 215 PS hand-wound movement. While most of the versions had dials featuring classic baton markers, the platinum model (reference 5196P) features a two-tone silver dial with applied Breguet markers, making it easily the most desirable of the bunch.

Other models took more experimental approaches, either riffing on old styles in new ways or introducing entirely new design concepts to the Calatrava. The reference 5227 is a great example of the former, with its hinged officer-style caseback and 39mm diameter, blending old-school details with a contemporary size. On the other side of the coin, the reference 6000 and reference 6006 feature asymmetrical dials with a high-contrast, black-and-white color scheme, plus a peripheral date display with a central hand. They’re unlike any Calatravas that came before.

“A well-rounded Calatrava collection explores the evolution of the line through its many forms,” concludes Hess. And as Patek Philippe continues to iterate on the Calatrava and experiment with what can fall under its umbrella, there continue to be more opportunities for this kind of exploration now than ever before.

For the purposes of this guide, we have been sticking to the core of the Calatrava range and what’s typically understood by collectors when you say “Calatrava.” However, since adopting that name as an official collection title back in the 1980s, Patek Philippe has occasionally released watches under this banner that stray quite far from the original reference 96 and its descendants.

These include relatively recent releases such as the reference 5224R (travel time), the reference 5524 (pilot’s travel time), reference 5212A (calendar) and more. These watches are very much worth paying attention to – they’re just not “Calatravas” in the traditional sense, no matter where they might appear on Patek Philippe’s website.

There are also countless oddities to be found in the Calatrava’s history (distant and recent), given that it has been in continuous production for almost a century. Models with ornate cloisonné or champlevé enamel dials, for example, offer more ornate, artistic interpretations of what is typically a more aesthetically reserved, Bauhaus-inspired watch.