YEAR: 1993
CASE MATERIAL: Platinum with snap-on caseback
DIAMETER: 35 mm.
STRAP MATERIAL: Black CROCODILE leather strap
DIAL: Opaline silver dial with baton indexes in white gold, leap year indication combined with months in a sub-dial at 3 o’ clock; 24-hour/ day-night indication combined with days of the week at 9 o’ clock; days of the month combined with moon-phase indication at 6 o’ clock
MOVEMENT: Cal. 240-Q, automatic movement stamped with the Geneva Hallmark
FUNCTIONS: Time, perpetual calendar, day-night/24-hour indicator, moon-phase
CLASP: Patek Philippe platinum tang buckle
WITH: Patek Philippe Extract from the Archive confirming 1993 as the year of manufacture and August 11, 1994 as the year of sale.

Ψ This endangered species strap is shown for display purposes only and is not for sale. Upon sale, this watch will be supplied to the buyer with a black leather strap.

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This lot is offered by Christie's Dubai Ltd.

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Lot Essay

Launched in 1985 and discontinued in 2007, the reference 3940 has always been a much-loved watch by collectors and is a significant reference in the modern history of Patek Philippe. The 3940’s reputation is further enhanced by the fact that the then head of the company, Philippe Stern, chose to wear the model as his everyday watch.

The Ref. 3940 and its sister reference (the Ref. 3970 perpetual calendar chronograph) were launched in the mid-1980s, at a time when few complicated wristwatches were available and the mechanical watch renaissance wasn’t entirely underway.

The watch was incredibly slim at 9 mm., thanks to the Cal. 240-Q movement with a 22k gold micro-rotor. The design of the dials, in line with many Patek Philippe references, has evolved over the 20 years of production resulting in three clearly defined series and some rare variations. The present example is an example of a late-second series, as evidenced by the cross-hair pattern on the sub-dial at 3 o’ clock.