The Patek Philippe 3970 is a 36mm perpetual calendar chronograph, a part of the family of the 1518 and 2499 (and thereafter, the 5970). The 3970 was manufactured between 1986 and 2014 with cases in white, yellow, and rose gold, as well as platinum. The Patek Philippe 3970 houses the calibre 27-70 Q, based on the Lemania 2310, and is the first Patek chronograph that was not based on a Valjoux ebauche.
In this section I am focused on very specific version which is my personal preference – the black dial platinum with baton or Arabic numeral dials (no diamond marks). While there were four different series of the Patek Philippe 3970, I believe that pieces with these characteristics fall solely into the fourth series (1995-2004, approximately 2,000 pieces, which shares the baton hands of the third series, but a deployant clasp). There are a large number of different appended numbers within this reference, and hopefully I’ll eventually make sense of all the differences, including those that are limited editions and unique pieces. Please don’t hesitate to drop me an email to help me fill in the blanks (or correct where I’ve gone wrong).
Stunner…
Patek Philippe 3970EP-020 Photo: Phillips, The New York Watch Auction: EIGHT, June 10, 2023
Before I start listing the below, note that the naming of the reference (including numbers in the suffix) is taken from the Certificate of Origin, or if not available, then the website where promoted. As such, there may be errors in the naming – please let me know if you catch any.
I lead with the year of manufacture and movement/case number if known. Below the sold piece I include any comments on the dial that are included in the description, beyond that it is black and non-diamond marks.
3970EP-010
1997: 3’045’664/4’010’766 – Sotheby’s: Dec 9, 2022 ($189k)
1998 (4th series): unknown movement/case numbers – Subdial: July 2025 ($160k USD) (original ask of 145,000 GBP in May 2022).
3970EP-019
1997: 3’045’664/4’010’766 – Christie’s: May 4, 2023 ($352.8k)
– Arabic numerals, feuille hands, custom replacement dial
– Noted as 3970E on Extract, and as 3970EP-019 on the Origin
3970-046: made for the 2015 Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition at the Saatchi gallery in London
2015 (3970EP-046): unknown movement/case numbers – Collectability: November 12, 2023 ($625k)
– Sold by the Patek Philippe Salon in Geneva in 2016; one of the last 3970s ever sold by Patek Philippe
2015: 3’932’345/4’279’366 – Sotheby’s: June 15, 2022 ($579.6k)
– Tachymeter scale and Breguet numeral 12, “The model was limited to only five pieces”
2015: 3’932’399/2’900’976 – Phillips: May 13, 2023 (571.5k CHF)
– “One of three known”
2015: unknown movement/case numbers – K2 Luxury: unknown date sold (unknown price)
– “estimated to be around a dozen only made as a limited edition re-release of the 3970 in platinum at the 2015 Patek Philippe Watch Art Grand Exhibition at the Saatchi gallery in London”
3970P
2014: 3’932’284/4’279’365 – Phillips: May 12-13, 2018 (348.5k CHF)
– “possibly unique”, has tachymeter and Breguet numeral 12
3970/2 (referred to as 3970EP)
1994: unknown/unknown – L’ora del Gallo: July 2025 (134,000 Euro)
– Appears from Extract to have a new case and new dial. Came originally with a platinum bracelet but now is sold with an alligator strap and platinum Patek Philippe buckle.
It can’t get any more classic than the Patek Philippe 570. The 570 was manufactured from 1938 to 1972 in yellow, white, and rose gold, as well as platinum, steel, and two-tone combinations. The reference came in a variety of designs, featuring baton indices, numerals in both Roman and Arabic, applied Breguet style numerals, and two and three-tone dials. The flat-bezel case was a significant increase in size versus the first Calatrava introduced, the 31mm Patek Philippe Reference 96, first manufactured in 1932.
The 570 used manual calibers 12-120 SC (center seconds), 12-120 PS (subsidiary seconds), 12-400, and the 27 SC. The 12-120 PS was the most common movement used, a 12 ligne in-house movement.
This research focuses specifically on my personal favorite, the stainless steel Patek Philippe 570.
Not covered in this research is the Patek Philippe 565, also introduced in 1938 and featuring a 35.5mm case, but with a screw-down caseback.
Below is an aggregation all of the Patek Philippe 570 I have found in steel. If you see any duplicates, errors, have serial numbers to include, or know of other steel Patek 570s to add, please let me know.
The production range I have seen for steel Patek Philippe 570 included in this research is 1938 – 1961.
The range above is limited due to few of these pieces available, and with many lacking caseback images, or text, and some without serial number provided.
The watches represented on each row in the table below are not intended to be unique, as I am including all transactions/owners to track any changes to the piece over time. I do my best to use visual cues to pair the same watch posted. When the case number can’t be established, I give the timepiece a unique ID (generally based on any part of the number that is known, plus a related date posted).
Unfortunately, some images may not appear in the table below as the table refers to the corresponding source page. If the image is removed or if the table is not able to process the site, a broken (or no) image will appear.
Caveats:
Description of pieces are generally based upon public images/video. For some detail, I do not have images and/or have to rely on text descriptions from the individual posting the timepiece. Some elements are often difficult to determine from pictures, including color of hands, for example if the register hands are black or blue. If I have a 50-50 guess, I leave the detail as “unknown.”
Search and filter the complete Patek Philippe 570 database. Use Case Number or Movement Number search for specific watches, or dropdown filters to explore by characteristics.
Most all known Patek Philippe steel 570 pieces are unique in design combination of dial, hands and marks.
The following highlights the most prominent elements of dials seen.
Regarding dial color, we see groupings as follows. Colors
– Silvered
– Two or three-tone silvered
– Some dials appear white in color, though given the frequency of silvered dials, this may simply be due to the photograph (in the case number project I have noted dials as “white” when appears as so, if no other indication of color is provided)
– There are some unusual colors seen, including a pink/copper-ish three-tone dial, which likely began its life silvered, and a caramel colored dial, which I would guess is another aged silver dial. The black dial seen is a replacement.
Numerals, marks and seconds register
– A large number of dials feature a Breguet style numerals, nearly all applied Arabic, with one example of black enameled numerals. When Breguet numerals are used, they appear at each hour, generally with the exception of at 6. Two examples do have a cropped-6.
– Approximately the same number of dials have Arabic numbers not in Breguet style. There are two general styles of these dials:
— Numerals shown at 3, 6, 9 and 12, unless the watch has subsidiary seconds, in which case none is shown at 6. These dials have baton marks (short or long applied, or enameled) for the other hours.
— Numerals at 2, 4, 8, 10 and 12. These dials all have plots of the other hour marks.
– Only a couple of dials have Roman numerals, at 3, 6 (if indirect seconds), 9 and 12. The two pieces are completely different in design (marks, outer track, center v subsidiary).
– Last, there are few dials with no numerals, and simple single pointed baton index marks at each hour (with a pair at 12 o’clock), cropped at 6 due to the subsidiary register.
Patek Philippe Steel 570 Dials
Outer minute track
Outer tracks come in a few different varieties:
[images to come]
– plots
– minute marks, thicker on the 5s, both with and without numerals
– railroad tracks, no numerals, lines connecting the rings at each minute, thicker on the 5s
– railroad tracks, numerals on the 5s with short thick marks within the track, lines connecting the rings at each minute, with short marks at 1/5.
– railroad tracks with lines connecting at the 5s, and dots at each minute within the track; numerals are at the outside of the outer ring on the 15s
Subsidiary seconds
I have seen a handful of indirect center seconds pieces, with the vast majority utilizing a subsidiary seconds register.
Patek 570 Subsidiary
Subsidiary designs include:
– multiple rings featuring a railroad-style design for the two “inner” rings, numerals on the 10s
– simplified closed register with two outer rings, featuring thick marks extending to both rings on the 15s, slightly less thick marks on the 5s extending about 2/3 of the way to the outer ring, and shorter minute marks (one piece has only 5-minute marks, which extend between rings)
– open register
Dials with Breguet numerals are generally the only dials that have registers with numerals, though we see a single example without Breguet numerals.
There can be slight differences in design within one type, such as slightly differing length of 5-second marks.
Signature and retailer
We see two manufacture signatures centered horizontally on the top half of the dial:
‘PATEK, PHILIPPE & Co.’ and ‘PATEK PHILIPPE’
Regardless of which is shown, we see GENÈVE below.
One curious dial has a short underline below GENEVE. Though curiously it lacks the È mark in GENÈVE, and it is unclear if there is a comma between PATEK and PHILIPPE. I do not believe pieces were ever signed PATEK PHILIPPE & Co., but would rather show without the comma due to a reprinted dial, or excessive cleaning.
I have seen three retailer signatures on the Patek Philippe 570 in stainless steel:
HAUSMANN & Co
EBERHARD – MILAN
ASTRUA – TORINO Patek 570 Retailer Stamps
