Patek 3417 First series

The 3417 is an iconic design, with its cursive Amagnetic script below the signature on some dial types. Simple, with a mid-century modern vibe and yet complicated with the various dial, movement and case permutations over a limited production volume from the late ‘50’s to early ‘70’s.

This 3417 is an extremely rare and original first series from 1958 featuring a type 0A dial with complete, bold engraved, enameled signature and gap at the 30 min mark. The dial exhibits different tones, depending on light conditions and features applied 12 and stick hour markers in white gold, with baton hour, minute and leaf sub second hands in steel. The overall dial design evokes a modernist style from the 12 marker to the oversize sub seconds, combined with the straight lines of the minute hashes and the clean, long hour markers.

The case is a monobloc, screw back type 1 design and movement is a 12-400, which was used briefly, before being succeeded by the 27-400AM movement. With matching and numbered inner dust cap, this example has all of the correct components and is one of approx. 5 of the first production examples currently known to exist in this complete format. The case with its white gold crown is razor sharp with original lines and is free of a concentric ring detail, seen on subsequent case types used during the 3417 production run.

This particular example is noteworthy beyond its well preserved condition, as it is the exact piece featured on the cover and inner content of the reference guide for the 3417 and 2570 published by Marco @mstanga, in collaboration with Wulf Schultz @rareandfine. All the important details line up. It’s currently on a period Gay Freres stretch rivet bracelet, which enhances the presentation and wearability.

The 3417 reference has some interesting nuances that differentiate examples due to several types of dials, cases, hands and movements used over time. See more pics showing different lighting conditions and detail highlights below.👇🏻. Thanks for reading.