A Cult Classic Turns 50: Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse

Patek Philippe made its biggest splashes at this year's Baselworld with new variations on its sportiest watch models, the Nautilus and Aquanaut On the dressier side, and not to be overlooked, the Genevan manufacture also unveiled two new versions of its Golden Ellipse, Patek's second oldest existing model, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year Launched in 1968, the original Golden Ellipse demanded attention with its quirky elliptical case, a hybrid of an oval and a rectangle, whose proportions, Patek says, were influenced by the so-called "Golden section" discovered by ancient Greek mathematicians and whose "Divine" proportions inspired numerous artistic and architectural masterpieces throughout the centuries.

That first model, with a shimmering blue-and-gold dial and a manually wound movement, eventually begat an entire collection of Golden Ellipses that by the late 1970s encompassed 65 different references, including a Nautilus version and several high-jewelry models for ladies Patek has unveiled two new Golden Ellipse timepieces, one limited, the other part of the regular collection, to mark this historical watch's semicentennial One model comes in a 345 mm x 395 mm platinum case, with an 18k gold black enameled dial with cheveu-style satin-finished white gold hands sweeping over a hand-engraved volute motif in white gold inspired by Patek Philippe's Calatrava cross emblem.

The crown is set with an onyx cabochon echoing the color of the enamel dial, and a diamond set in the caseband at 6 o'clock marks this piece as a member of Patek Philippe's exclusive platinum collection. . Source