Very rare and beautiful Patek Philippe Vintage Jumbo Nautilus with the reference 3700/1 in steel. The watch has the original metal bracelet with folding clasp in steel and a perfect Calatrava cross on the lug. This Nautilus is in very good, sharp-edged and unpolished condition from the first owner, manufactured in 1980 and sold on the 22. March 1982. A revision was carried out at Patek Philippe in June 2021, but without any refurbishment or polishing. With the 3700, Patek Philippe paved the way for the legendary Nautilus in 1976, which has become an icon of sporty horology over the past decades. After Audemars Piguet introduced the sporty and robust Royal Oak 5402 in 1972, Patek Philippe had to counter with a sports model. This still had to exude a certain elegance, but also robustness. Fortunately for Patek, the man who designed the Royal Oak saw the Patek Philippe executives sitting in one corner of a dining room while he sat alone in the other corner, his name: Gerald Genta. According to him, it only took him five minutes to sketch the watch that became the icon we see today - romantic or not. The design process back then was definitely shorter and purer than it is today. Well and the rest is history, the 3700 was a complete success and the Nautilus model series is still one of the biggest names in the watch industry today. Normally, the dial of the 3700 always had a blue shimmer that changed depending on the light. But this example here has a very special and rare Type 7 Serif dial, in sunlight you can see a beautiful green shimmer depending on the angle. It was also common for the Sigma characters to be arranged on the outside at the bottom of the dial with the dots on the inside of the "Swiss" lettering, here the dots are on the right and left outside the Sigma characters! So if you are looking for a very special icon of the Patek Philippe brand with collector's potential, you have found it! Especially in this great set with the rare original Patek cork box (watch clasp has been replaced) - current extract from the archives - service documents - Patek service tag. To summarise, I can only say that if someone asks me about an icon of the watch industry, in most cases I will say: the Patek Philippe Nautilus. The 3700 has significantly influenced the market and the benchmark for sports models and wristwatches to this day, but as with many things in life, the original will always be and remain the best!
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