womens dress watch Patek Philippe Ladies Dress Watch – Analog:Shift

womens dress watch Patek Philippe Ladies Dress Watch – Analog:ShiftPatek Philippes history has been driven by its discerning female clientele. One of the companys earliest clients was a Madame Goscinska, who bought the first three watches Patek Philippe ever produced. Although meant to be worn on brooches or suspended from chains at the waist, these watches were remarkable for their exquisite construction, featuring enamel decorations surrounded by diamonds, and often containing complications like a keyless winding

Patek Philippe’s history has been driven by its discerning female clientele. One of the company’s earliest clients was a Madame Goscinska, who bought the first three watches Patek Philippe ever produced. Although meant to be worn on brooches or suspended from chains at the waist, these watches were remarkable for their exquisite construction, featuring enamel decorations surrounded by diamonds, and often containing complications like a keyless winding system.

Queen Victoria herself fell in love with one such watch at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851.

When Patek Philippe made its first wristwatches in the 1870s, they were not for men, but for women, who liked the practicality of a wrist-worn watch while engaged in sports like horseback riding. These watches were petite and stylish, and powered by movements so small that they could fit into a ring. To manufacture parts on such a scale requires mastery, which the watchmakers at Patek Philippe certainly possessed… and still do.

The Great Depression and the Second World War saw a shift toward watches for both men and women that were far removed, stylistically, from the bejeweled pendant watches that Queen Victoria so loved. However, they were no less elegant. The Reference 4310 featured here is exactly what we mean by this.

In 1968, Patek Philippe released the Golden Ellipse. Debuting a few years before the iconic Nautilus, the Ellipse—with its distinctive oval shape—was unlike anything else in Patek Philippe’s catalogs. A few years later, in 1976, the Golden Ellipse would be miniaturized with the Reference 4310.

The enigmatic black dial, devoid of any markings but the manufacture’s logo, hearkens back to the Museum Watch made by Movado. But the gold case, with its diamond-set sides, is classic Patek. The movement that powers it, the Calibre 15-250, is a worthy rival to any movement ever fitted into a man’s watch, adjusted to five positions.

With a beautiful 18k gold case and perfect proportions, this is a ladies’ timepiece that is worthy of the name Patek Philippe.