With a heritage of manufacturing some of the most important chronograph references ever, vintage Patek Philippe chronographs are on a class of its own. The reference 130 is widely regarded by collectors of where it all began. Being the very first serially produced chronograph wristwatch under the helms of the new owners, the Stern family, the ref. 130 was officially launched two years under the acquisition in 1934.

Inspired from its Calatrava models, the ref. 130 was first released as a monopusher chronograph and later with start/stop and reset pushers. The reference was made available in yellow gold, pink gold and stainless steel and a small number of rare examples in other metals. With its stainless steel examples much rarer than its gold counterparts, the three piece snapback case were made by three different casemakers at the time including Wenger, Croisier and Dubois. It is estimated that only 270 examples of the reference in stainless steel were ever produced from 1934 – 1964, with circa 100 examples known to the public.

Few chronographs of the 20th century enjoy such iconic status amongst scholars and collectors as reference 130 does. In fact, its shape and dial design could be from anywhere between the second half of the 20th century to the early 21st century. Few believe that they’re looking at a watch spanning three quarters of a century of age.

The present example Patek Philippe ref. 130 in stainless steel with Arabic and nipple indexes is a wonderful example from the third series with a case made by Wenger identifiable via the absence of pinholes.