authentic Patek Philippe 3700/1a. Need help fast!!!

[benoize]

Hi all,

First time poster, but long time lurker. I might have a chance to finally buy a coveted PP nautilus 3700/1a.
It's a bit banged up and I'm not sure it's authentic. Here's a pic of the back and front. Any help?



Thanks!
Ben

[breitlingherst]

any papers with the watch? that rotor looks funny... i had the rotor changed on my Patek 3800 (sold awhile ago) and was told by Patek it was a solid gold rotor ($1,000 just for the rotor)

[FeelingTheBlues]

Originally Posted by breitlingherst

any papers with the watch? that rotor looks funny... i had the rotor changed on my Patek 3800 (sold awhile ago) and was told by Patek it was a solid gold rotor ($1,000 just for the rotor)

This is the thought I had as well but it seems like it was not the case for older Patek's. This model had the caliber 28-255C, a non in-house movement that is pictures below.



I don't know if the watch posted in this thread is authentic but the movement (or its rotor) wouldn't be a giveaway for me. I'm more concerned about the dial, funny how the date's guichet has a stainless steel (or perhaps white gold) square around it. I'm also not sure the small minute markers are right. Perhaps it's just a dial that a later model had but it doesn't look like the ones I've seen whilst looking at pictures online.





As you can see, there are no markers near the date's guichet and it seems like the luminova part of the hour markers aren't the same either, it's smaller in the pictures I have.

Again, I may very well be wrong but this watch looks different. If you trust the buyer and he or she has a solid reputation then you shouldn't really worry but I'd ask about the dial anyway.

[benoize]

Hi all who posted back...

I have been away to research the watch... long story short. I didn't do it. There were just too many questions and issues.

Anyway, thanks to all for the help!

Regards,
Benoize

[kilyung]

For the best that you passed.

[ciceroyeah]

This is a franken Patek, and a poorly assembled one at that. The case and dial are fake, and the movement and hands are real. The movement is a vintage 28-255, and is clearly genuine. Likely it was salvaged from another less valuable watch, but it probably is in bad condition and would need expensive servicing. Which could not be done because the rest of the watch is fake.

However, no nautilus of that era ever had an open case-back, and the steel square around the date-window is all wrong. Furthermore, the dial is brighter than the nearly-black original vintage dials, and the horizontal lines are too fat (a real 3700 has 3 raised lines intersecting the sides of the date window, not 2 raised lines as in this example). Further, you can see the dial was made for a wider set of hands by noticing the gap between dial and the circumference of the hands stack, likely because it was meant for a cheap asian 21j movement or a ETA 2824.

This was assembled from parts with an aggregate value around 3 thousand USD and is worth nothing more than that.