Patek Philippe Ellipse

About This Watch

In 1968, Patek Philippe introduced the Golden Ellipse — a bold departure from traditional round dress watches and a full eight years before the arrival of the Nautilus. Defined by its harmonious oval form, inspired by the golden ratio, the Ellipse signaled a shift toward avant-garde elegance at a time when utilitarian tool watches dominated the industry.

As the decades rolled on, however, tastes changed. Collectors gravitated toward steel chronographs and rugged dive watches tied to stories of conquest and exploration. Many refined, design-driven gold pieces from the 1970s and '80s — including the Ellipse — were overlooked, tucked away in drawers, or, in too many unfortunate cases, scrapped for their metal value. Today, that mindset is evolving. A new generation of collectors is rediscovering these sculptural expressions of watchmaking, recognizing them as wearable works of art.

This example, a Reference 3586J/1 from the early 1970s, beautifully captures that spirit. Housed in a 36mm x 34mm solid 18K yellow gold cushion case, it features a warm champagne sunburst dial with applied 'stick' indices and a matching 'pencil' handset. It is fitted to a classic, Patek Philippe signed, black leather strap with a gold pin buckle. Inside beats Patek's ultra-slim Calibre 350, notable for its crown-on-the-caseback configuration — an innovative concept that made the watch equally suited to left- and right-handed wearers, even if its architecture later proved more vulnerable to moisture than traditional layouts.

Pieces like this stand apart in a sea of steel sports watches — sophisticated, unconventional, and quietly confident. The Golden Ellipse doesn't shout. It doesn't need to. It represents a purer idea of luxury: form as identity, proportion as poetry, and design as destiny.