Flexible by design

It is remarkable just how young the history of the wristwatch actually is. In 1904, Louis Cartier created a timepiece for the famed aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont that did not have to be kept in a trouser pocket, but that was rather strapped to the wrist on a leather band, allowing him to read the time effortlessly during flight. Santos-Dumont was, in today’s terms, an influencer. This new way of wearing a watch quickly became en vogue and, driven by strong demand, the “Cartier Santos” was produced in significant numbers from 1911 onwards.

The wristwatch conquered the world almost overnight, with its success fuelled further by the First World War. It was not only fighter pilots who appreciated this practical way of wearing a watch. Ground troops would also strap timepieces over their uniform sleeves using long bands. Following the war, wristwatches became established as a masculine accessory. At first, conventions were clear: an elegant gold watch was paired with a leather strap, while a sporty watch was worn on a metal bracelet. Yet before long, this distinction began to blur. 

AN ANTI-MAGNETIC MOVEMENT

In the 1950s, CERN in Geneva commissioned several manufacturers to develop anti-magnetic movements so that their engineers could work and read the time reliably in strong magnetic fields. This led not only to Rolex’s Milgauss, but also Patek Philippe’s calibre 12-400, which was used across multiple references. One of these was Ref. 3418, presented in 1957 in Basel (alongside the calibre itself). What set this reference apart from both inhouse and competing models was a feature that was both simple and ingenious: the strap or bracelet could be interchanged. 

But how was this technically possible? Until that point, leather straps were threaded through lugs, while metal bracelets were fixed directly to the case without them. There had been experiments combining metal bracelets with lugs, but the results were not particularly harmonious. Patek Philippe appears to have asked itself a couple of simple questions: what if the wearer cannot decide? How can flexibility be offered in such instances? 

The solution lay in a screw-down case back. For the leather strap, inserts with lugs could be embedded within the case. For the metal bracelet, in turn, the end links were precisely fitted into the case itself. Once the case back was screwed down, the metal bracelet sat seamlessly against the case without the visually distracting presence of lugs. As this method of changing straps or bracelets was relatively complex and required expertise, Patek Philippe abandoned the idea after a few years and developed other solutions. For collectors, however, these rare timepieces, produced exclusively in stainless steel, are highly coveted. Examples that retain both the leather strap fittings and the metal bracelet system are especially desirable. And even more so when, as in the present example, the original guarantee has survived, confirming its first sale on a metal bracelet.