The Three Dials of 1st Series Patek Philippe ref. 3940
Images, A Collected Man & Collectability
Introduction
The Patek Philippe reference 3940 is iconic with the 1st series dials becoming ever more collectible, hunted by collectors worldwide. Until recently it was somewhat unanimously agreed that the 1st Series had ‘sunken sub dials’ and for the dial that was all there really was to know.
In this deep-dive, through the findings of @watches_and_guinness we cover the multiple dials that can be found on the 1st series ref. 3940, their differences and how we know they were all fitted to the very early examples of the ref. 3940 1st series.
Move to Mass Production
The Patek Philippe ref. 3940 marked the move to ‘mass’ production for their perpetual calendar. In doing so a large portion of the information used for the calendar was moved from the movement itself to the dial surface. This in itself presented challenges such as dials dedicated to different languages and new design/layout to cater for the increase of printed information.
3450, The Keystone
3940, The Keystone
Stern Créations & Singer Dials
With Stern Créations responsible for the dial production, Singer were also contracted in to help. There could have been a number of reasons for this from the increase in model production volume to the difficulty of the dial design (sub-dial cut out of the ref. 3940). A theory for why the cut-out sub-dials were quickly replaced with the 2nd series somewhat smoothed out ‘sunken sub-dials’.
Below a different reference, the Patek Philippe ref. 3974, however showing both Stern Créations and Singer producing dials for the same model.
Their mark below 6 o’clock…‘ σ SWISS σ ’ for Stern Créations and ‘ σ . SWISS . σ ’ for Singer.
Both dial manufacturers noted, @watches_and_guinness
The 3 Dials of the 1st Series 3940
Stern produced 2 dial variants, the first is the ‘Short E’ dial, the middle branch of the ‘E’ in the logo is shorter than the top/bottom.
The second dial from Stern was the ‘Long E’ dial. Both Stern dials have an accent in the 'Genève’ of the logo and ‘σ SWISS σ ‘ below 6 o’clock on the dial. The font 'Genève’ also appears to be ever so slightly smaller than ‘Patek Philippe’ above it.
Finally the 3rd dial seen on early 3940 is the Singer dial ft. no accent ‘Geneve’ and ‘σ . SWISS . σ’ below 6 o’clock on the dial.
Images, A Collected Man & Collectability
Ref. 3940 Sub-dial Differences
Striking visual difference between the Stern and Signer sub-dials. On the left you can see a sharp almost vertical cut-out for the 3 and 9 o’clock sub-dials, compared to the somewhat ‘sloped’ cut for the Singer dials.
Images, A Collected Man
Close up on the Singer sub-dial cut-out, A Collected Man
Looking closer…
Looking closely at the 9 o’clock sub-dial the color indicator is present only on Stern dials.
Images, A Collected Man
Other Singer Examples
σ . SWISS . σ look familiar?
Singer famously made majority of Ellipse blue dials for Stern/Patek Philippe in the 1980’s as they specialised in color coatings under vacuum. Besides the Ellipse you can find Singer dials across multiple model ranges including the Nautilus 3800/3700 lines.
Important to note Singer dials did exist with the ‘accent’ above E in GENEVE. These can be found up until 1985, from 1986 the ‘non accent’ dials start to appear in the official Patek Philippe Master Catalog. Example below with the ref. 3738 - to note the dial code remains the same, in this case 194 CJ.
1985 Master Catalog, ‘Accent’ Singer dial, ref 3738
1986 Master Catalog, ‘No Accent’ Singer dial, ref 3738
Multiple dials from the very beginning
Beyer came first — Well documented by the likes of Collectability and A Collected Man is the ref. 3940 Beyer Dial.
‘Philippe Stern released the ref. 3940 to coincide with the 225th anniversary of the eponymous retailer and show support for his close friend Theodore Breyer. The first 25 models of the ref. 3940 were made with customized and numbered dials for Beyer. Numbers 1 to 15 have a German dial, while numbers 16 to 25 have an English dial.’ Collectability
Can see both Stern types for Beyer dials and while no evidence of Singer dial, if you have please do share.
Long Gold Pointers
After the initial 25 Beyer examples the production dials emerged carrying a number of features that are only present on the very early examples. The long gold pointers in the 3 and 9 o’clock sub-dials are one of them, found on models from 1985, also spotted in 1986 but much less likely in 1987.
Images, A Collected Man & Collectability
Early Stern AND Singer Dials
Long gold pointers have been spotted across both Stern and Singer dials strongly indicating both were in production from very early on in the 1st series ref. 3940 production circa 1985-86.
Stern Dial, ft. long gold pointers, sold Jan 1987, A Collected Man
Singer Dial, ft. long gold pointers circa 1986, Antiquorum NYC - Dec 1988
Further Evidence
Spotted in Patek Philippe’s own literature, printed 1986, is a picture of a Singer dial ref. 3940 with long gold pointers, and large star moon-phase disc for that matter — more on this in next section.
Finally an auction listing from Sotheby’s NYC June 1990 showing a 1st series ref. 3940 Singer dial with movement no. 770’241.
Patek Philippe Catalog 1986 - Singer dial, long gold pointers, @watches_and_guinness
Movement No. 770’241, Singer dial, dated 1986 - Sotheby’s NYC June 1990, @watches_and_guinness
Early Moon-phase Disc
According to the Patek Philippe Master Catalog, part 763/1 (see below) is code for a visually ‘large star’ moon-phase disc present on ref. 3940 models with movement no. up to 770.100 eg. the first 100 batch of 3940. Most noticeable a big star almost touching the moon and somewhat rounded tips to the stars. We’re eager to know more if anyone has further insights. See image below specifying the disc up to movement no. XX.100.
Later part 763/1 updated to a visually ‘small star’ moon-phase disc fitted to movement no. 770.101 upwards. ‘Large star’ part looks to be made of some type of glass/fragile material, later ‘small star’ disc more acrylic/lacquer.
images, @watches_and_guinness
1986 Patek Philippe Master Catalog, @watches_and_guinness
‘Large Star’ moon-phase disc appears to be the same or very similar to the previous model(s), ref. 3450 & ref. 3448.
To Conclude
3 dials present from very early on for the Patek Philippe ref. 3940 1st Series.
Images, A Collected Man & Collectability
