Patek Philippe Beta 21

The 1969 introduction of the Seiko Astron, the world’s first commercially available quartz wristwatch, sent tremors throughout the industry.  In a struggle to keep pace with the new technology, the big Swiss watch manufacturers banded together to develop their own quartz movement, which could be used by watches from the different brands. The resulting production movement, the Beta 21, was an electronic caliber featuring a quartz crystal beating at 8.192 Hz. Reduced to 256 Hz to drive a vibration motor, the movement featured a sweep seconds hand, rather than the more well known “ticking” seconds of conventional quartz calibers.   Despite the massive R&D budgets of the Swiss conglomerate that developed the Beta 21, just 6,000 movements were produced before the project was scrapped. Certain watchmakers, however, produced their own versions of the Beta 21 and continued production for some time. Some of the more significant Beta 21-based models were those produced by none other than Patek Philippe, a manufacturer well known for its mechanical calibers. The example that we have here, a Reference 3597, dates to circa 1972 and features a 43mm 18K white gold case with a signed crown, a sunburst blue 'sigma' dial with applied white gold indices, a matching handset, and a framed date window at 3:00. Powered by the Beta 21 electronic quartz movement, it comes paired to a signed nave blue alligator leather strap with a signed white gold pin bukle. Whether you’re a dedicated Patek collector or a scholar of horological history — or both! — this unabashedly '70s piece packs a huge punch.