Manufacturer: Patek Philippe Year: 2005 Reference No: 4860 Movement No: 3’350’476 Case No: 4’331’711 Material: 18K white gold Calibre: Manual, cal. 16-250, 18 jewels Bracelet/Strap: Crocodile Clasp/Buckle: 18K white gold Patek Philippe pin buckle Dimensions: 26mm Diameter Signed: Case, dial, and movement signed. Accessories: Accompanied by Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming manufacture of the present watch in 2005 and its subsequent sale on January 20, 2006. Additionally accompanied by service receipt dated July 10, 2019.
Catalogue Essay
In the 1990s, many brands – forgetting that the very first wristwatches were designed for ladies’ wrists – decided for their women’s watches, they would produce either exclusively in quartz, or take simply an older gentleman’s model and dress it with a few tenths of a carat in diamonds.
The reference 4860 was presented in 1992 as the lady’s counterpart to the reference 3960, which celebrated the 150th anniversary of Patek Philippe, in 1989, but only in yellow gold. The white and pink gold variations would be introduced later, in 1995, and they remained in production until 2006.
The present lady's wristwatch intriguingly presents features usually associated with more masculine timepieces, such as the screw lugs, the absence of any kind of gem-setting, and the "old-school” porcelain dial style featuring railway minute divisions, Breguet numerals, and Breguet hands. In fact, this was the lady’s counterpart to the celebrated officier reference 3960. Reference 4860 was originally released in yellow gold in 1992; around 1995, the line was updated with white and pink gold versions, and the models would remain in production until 2006.
Since its founding in 1839, this famous Geneva-based firm has been surprising its clientele with superbly crafted timepieces fitted with watchmaking's most prestigious complications. Traditional and conservative designs are found across Patek Philippe's watches made throughout their history — the utmost in understated elegance.
Well-known for the Graves Supercomplication — a highly complicated pocket watch that was the world’s most complicated watch for 50 years — this family-owned brand has earned a reputation of excellence around the world. Patek's complicated vintage watches hold the highest number of world records for results achieved at auction compared with any other brand. For collectors, key models include the reference 1518, the world's first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph, and its successor, the reference 2499. Other famous models include perpetual calendars such as the ref. 1526, ref. 3448 and 3450, chronographs such as the reference 130, 530 and 1463, as well as reference 1436 and 1563 split seconds chronographs. Patek is also well-known for their classically styled, time-only "Calatrava" dress watches, and the "Nautilus," an iconic luxury sports watch first introduced in 1976 as the reference 3700 that is still in production today.