Luminous Dial 3450J Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar

This is an extremely rare, likely specially ordered 3450J. It’s luminous, or at least it was, in tritium: hands and dial. And if we’re discussing greatly overlook complicated Patek Philippe, the 3450 is definitely in that mix. The 3450 could be described as transitional, launched in 1981 and taking over from the first self-winding QP ref. 3448, it was quickly succeeded by Philippe Stern’s inimitable 3940 in 1985. Effectively, it was a 3448 with leap indication. Around 244 examples were made, with roughly 200-220 J/yellow gold, 10-15 G/white gold, and a mythical 2 in P/platinum. That is far tinier than the 3448’s 586 examples or estimated 7,000 example 3940 production. Regardless of metal or numbers, this luminous dial is something not seen before.

It’s not like there isn’t precedent. In 2012 Sotheby’s found and auctioned a 3450 with a white enamel dial and black Roman numerals from the Fullerton collection. It’s likely both of these were special requests from the client, however it’s unknowable whether the dials left the doors in this configuration or were altered in service. Even as late as the early 2000s, AP were making dials for clients with Royal Oak QPs to fit their preference. In any event, it is rather intriguing. An Extract would be fascinating, but there isn’t one here. There is, however, a concretely luminous 3448 known. That example had an extract which stated nothing about it, nor did the certificate of origin. Yet the watch came from the original owner and was quite traceable with a paper trail from birth including service. There is precedent here either way (the indices were distinct on that one too). That one hammered for 662K in 2022.

The 3450 is largely divided into two series based on the style of leap indication. The earlier series used a red disc for the leap year with Arabic numerals elsewhere. The later series use Roman numerals for all 4. In terms of condition, seeing the unusual vertical brushing on the lug outer might seem odd, but that’s right where it should be. Now, by the time we get to 3450 dials have moved from engraved enamel to pad printing, that change happened within the production of 3448. All the other condition cues still apply. Interestingly, the normal 3450 has pyramidal indices at 5 and 7, to not encroach on the date. Miniaturized batons exist there here too. Otherwise, the shape of the handset matches, including the extra-long minute hand. The 3450 is the height of 70s-meets-80s design cues at Patek Philippe. This is simply a rather unusual and interesting one.