Patek Philippe 2584 Vintage: Old-School Cool

Vintage Patek Philippe has become a certifiable phenomenon in the last two decades. At this point, escalating public interest and watch values mean that mainstream (i.e., non-watch specialist) media coverage of the Patek Philippe vintage scene has become routine.

And historically significant Patek Philippe models like this 36mm 18-karat yellow gold Patek Philippe 2584 automatic are becoming scarce in outstanding condition. Fortunately, watchuwant.com is proud to offer this superb 2584 automatic… while it lasts.

With modern size, true “time capsule” condition, and an historic combination of technological “firsts,” this is a milestone Patek Philippe with immense appeal to vintage connoisseurs.

Due to the large size of its signature automatic caliber, the Patek Philippe 2584 boasts a surprisingly modern 36mm diameter. Men’s dress watches of the 1950s tend to range from 32-34mm, so the “jumbo” sized 2584 has aged well relative to 21st century tastes. At Geneva and Basel 2015, 35-38mm mechanical men’s watches were launching in droves.

But why buy a latter-day tribute to mid-century style when you can own the real thing? The 18-karat round case, stepped bezel, and exquisite soldered lugs of the Patek Philippe 2584 ooze beauty and class. A bubble-like domed Plexiglas crystal provides the optical distortion and vintage charm that soulless modern sapphire cannot hope to match. At three o’clock the distinctive 1950s Patek Philippe “double P” crown remains in place and exhibits excellent condition.

A superb matte silver dial announces this Patek Philippe 2584 as part of the dress watch family that came to be known as “Calatravas” during the 1980s. Sub-seconds at six o’clock, chaste golden baton hands, applied gold hour indices, and a discrete “Patek Philippe/Geneve” marquee declare the family links beyond a shadow of a doubt.

But consider the Patek Philippe 2584’s engineering claims to fame. As one of just over 500 examples built (ours is circa-1958) at the tail end of the 1950s, this 2584 features an example of Patek Philippe’s first automatic caliber, the 12-600 AT. Introduced in 1953 on the ref. 2526 and produced through 1959, the landmark Cal. 12-600 AT was only produced in roughly 7,100 copies over seven model years. Rare even in its day, the dwindling number of surviving 12-600 AT Patek Philippe watches makes this example even more desirable.

Within the thin and fine gold case, Patek Philippe’s caliber 12-600 AT sports all of the hallmarks of a Geneva Seal masterpiece. But fine finish aside, there’s a mechanical revolution at hand. This pioneering Patek rotor-wound movement also served as an early platform for the Gyromax balance system. Patented in 1951, Patek Philippe’s Gyromax balance moved the principal regulating mechanism of the movement from the index (a swan’s neck remains for micro-adjustments) to the balance wheel itself. Variable-inertia blocks on the rim of the balance can be rotated to accelerate or slow the rate of the watch, and the arrangement is far more resistant to shock-induced variation than previous “mobile index” systems.

For good measure, an early “parechoc” shock protection spring insulates the balance, and a heat-blued Breguet overcoil hairspring ensures the caliber 12-600 AT maintains consistent amplitude (beat strength) in any position on the wrist or dresser top.

See this historic, handsome, and rare Patek Philippe 2584 in high-resolution images on www.watchuwant.com.