Collecting the Patek Philippe Ref. 3940

Philippe Stern, famously wore his 3940 as his daily, Nicolas Sarkozy was gifted one by Carla Bruni – the 3940 has adorned the wrists of much of the world’s elite and continues to close to 40 years after its initial release (1985).  

The ref. 3940 was brought into the Patek catalogue following the well-loved ref. 3448 nicknamed Padellone by the Italians. The perpetual calendar updated its movement from a full rotor with a guichet type display of the day and month functioning via moving discs – to a micro rotor with hands pointing to the date and month on the dial. This essentially works the same, in one case you fix a disc with the day and month onto your pinion, in the other you fix a hand.

This changed the aesthetic of the reference greatly, shifting from, in my opinion, a very legible design, to a more cluttered one. Instead of an empty dial layout with just the day and month, every possible combination of leap year, month, day, date are all on the dial.

This leads one to wonder why on earth Patek would do this.. but Philippe Stern knew exactly what he was doing. In essence, he created what may very well be the most wearable perpetual calendar watch ever created.

The purity of design we love of the 3448 comes with an inconvenient thickness – with its new design, the 3940 packs a perpetual calendar in at 8,8mm, that’s thinner than what they managed with a manual wound movement in the ref. 3449. The 3940 also allows the user to set the watch himself thanks to the leap year indicator (worth mentioning despite the 3450).

When wearing the ref. 3940 it’s surprising how quickly it escapes your thoughts, it just sits perfectly on the wrist, slides under any cuff, and looks absolutely gorgeous.

It’s also one of the more practical complications, you can easily check which day of the week it is etc. (am I the only one who never uses his chronograph ?). The micro-rotor whilst keeping the thickness down also helps when rotating watches, a simple winder can keep the perpetual calendar on time over the weekend and back on your wrist with no need to reset the watch by Monday. Seems like the perfect watch to have in a rotation especially if you work in an office.

So what about collectability of the ref. 3940 ?

Well, the reference was released in 1985 in a limited run of 25 numbered pieces for Beyer Zurich to commemorate the 225th anniversary of the retailer. These watches were fitted with a doré (or champagne) dial and individually numbered in the subcounter. Pieces 1 to 15 had a German calendar, whilst 16 to 25 were in English. Due to this, some collectors consider a German first series watch to be THE original configuration to own (I disagree, to each his own).  

After this first batch, more pieces were put into production considered the first series until 1987.

Particularities of the first series include a solid case back, and a two-tone dial with incused sub-registers. First series were made in yellow gold for the most part, with some rare examples in white gold and platinum (no rose gold known). Some doré dials were also made outside of the early Beyer batch. For anyone familiar with the ref. 3970, the production series of the 3940 are extremely similar.

Following the first series, the second series brought a slightly angled track around the sub-counter, textured internal sub-counters and the optional sapphire case-back. Much like the 3970s, ref. 3941 was introduced before being merged into one common reference in the 3rd series with two case-backs.

However, inside the 2nd series, some differences exist. Very early examples have the leap year and month register blank with no + or x inside – these early examples are much rarer and favoured by collectors. Regular + subdials aren’t particularly desired, however, x registers are very rare, Thierry Stern owned one, and this white gold piece is in a private collection. Two other examples in yellow gold have appeared over the past few years. It is unsure how many were made and for what purpose.

To check the condition on a 3940 isn’t easy per se due to the shape of the case - however, exposed hallmarks on the side of the case in the earlier series help greatly and due to the fact this reference has been written about in great depth, there are a lot of photos online to compare condition with. 

In the final series, the most collectible variants are special orders, like those of Michael Ovitz, London Saatchi exhibition pieces or Patek Vintage collection pieces.