3970EG‑022
Gondolo
Lug width: 19 mm
Source: Not yet verified Attachment: Spring barsCase size: 36 mmSilver dialCase material: White Gold
- Attachment
- classic lugs
- Status
- Listed in our database, not yet verified
The story · Since 1872
The story of the Patek Philippe Gondolo
From 1872 to 1927 a Rio de Janeiro jeweller sold about a third of everything Patek Philippe made, partly through clubs whose members paid by the week and drew lots for their watch. In 2009 Patek Philippe said all its form watches, those whose cases are not round, belonged to the collection named after that shop.
- 1872 to 1901 A shop in Rio On 12 November 1872 Patek Philippe sent its first pocket watch to Gondolo & Labouriau, a watch retailer in Rio de Janeiro.
- 1902 to 1927 The Chronometro Gondolo clubs From 1902 the Geneva workshops designed watches exclusively for the Brazilian firm, sold as the Chronometro Gondolo.
- 1910 to 1927 Onto the wrist The first Chronometro Gondolo wristwatches appeared around 1910 in square, rectangular, tonneau and cushion-shaped carre cambre cases.
- 1993 to 1999 The name returns Patek Philippe launched a modern Gondolo collection in 1993, the year Philippe Stern became president, drawing on the Art Deco shapes of the early 1920s.
- 2004 to 2013 Complications in form cases The Gondolo Calendario Ref. 5135 of 2004 put an annual calendar in an elongated cushion-shaped case and shared the Men's Watch Prize at the 2004 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve.
- 2016 to 2026 Jewels, colour and quartz Two Haute Joaillerie Gondolo models with pearl and diamond bracelets arrived in 2016.
about one third
of Patek Philippe's entire production sold through Gondolo & Labouriau between 1872 and 1927
Worn by
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about one thirdof Patek Philippe's entire production sold through Gondolo & Labouriau between 1872 and 1927
180members in each original Chronometro Gondolo club
8 dayspower reserve of the rectangular caliber in the 2013 Gondolo Ref. 5200
CHF 279,000paid at Christie's in 2012 for a Chronometro Gondolo whose 1913 movement was recased in pink gold in 1929
Chapters
- 1872 to 1901
A shop in Rio
On 12 November 1872 Patek Philippe sent its first pocket watch to Gondolo & Labouriau, a watch retailer in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian firm went on to sell roughly a third of Patek Philippe's output while Europe went through lean years and a world war.
- 1902 to 1927
The Chronometro Gondolo clubs
From 1902 the Geneva workshops designed watches exclusively for the Brazilian firm, sold as the Chronometro Gondolo. Buyers joined a 180-member club that ran weekly draws, each winner taking a watch; clubs of this kind were private entities and so got round the ban on public gambling. Members, known as the Gondolo Gang, wore sombreros marked PATEK, and in Brazil 'Patek' came to mean any watch.
- 1910 to 1927
Onto the wrist
The first Chronometro Gondolo wristwatches appeared around 1910 in square, rectangular, tonneau and cushion-shaped carre cambre cases. The largest series measured 40 mm long, or 48 mm with the lugs. As business deteriorated in the late 1920s, the last Chronometro Gondolo was dispatched to Rio in 1927.
- 1993 to 1999
The name returns
Patek Philippe launched a modern Gondolo collection in 1993, the year Philippe Stern became president, drawing on the Art Deco shapes of the early 1920s. Early ladies' models such as Refs. 4824 and 4825 had slim rectangular cases curving from the lugs into the bracelet, and served as the blueprint for the first Twenty~4 of 1999.
- 2004 to 2013
Complications in form cases
The Gondolo Calendario Ref. 5135 of 2004 put an annual calendar in an elongated cushion-shaped case and shared the Men's Watch Prize at the 2004 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve. In 2007 the Chronometro Gondolo name came back on the tonneau Ref. 5098, modelled on a 1925 watch. The Ref. 5200 of 2013 added an eight-day, rectangular hand-wound movement with instantaneous day and date.
- 2016 to 2026
Jewels, colour and quartz
Two Haute Joaillerie Gondolo models with pearl and diamond bracelets arrived in 2016. The Gondolo Serata returned in 2023 as Ref. 4962/200R, a quartz jewellery watch set with spessartites. In October 2026 Patek Philippe unveiled six Gondolo Ladies First models, Ref. 7043, cushion-shaped with articulated lugs and the quartz caliber E15.
Worn by
Victoria BeckhamCulture2025
Wore a Patek Philippe Gondolo Haute Joaillerie Ref. 7042/100R, set with Akoya pearls and diamonds, to see her husband David Beckham receive his knighthood in 2025.
Glenn BeckHistory2017
The conservative radio and TV commentator told The New York Times that his collection of about 40 watches includes a Patek Philippe 5135 Gondolo Calendario.
Moments
2025. Phillips sold a 1907 pink gold Chronometro Gondolo pocket watch retailed by Gondolo & Labouriau, with a rare enamel 24-hour dial, for HK$215,900 in its Hong Kong Sessions, Spring 2025. Phillips counted only 12 known examples in this configuration.
2012. At Christie's Geneva on 14 May 2012 a Chronometro Gondolo whose 1913 movement was recased in pink gold in 1929 sold for CHF 279,000 against an estimate of CHF 100,000 to 150,000. The lot essay called it the only large Gondolo known in pink gold and the only one with Breguet numerals seen in public.
Awards
- 2006Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve · Ladies' Watch PrizeReference 4991
The Gondolo Gemma 4991 won the ladies' prize at the 2006 GPHG.
- 2004Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve · Men's Watch Prize (tie)Reference 5135G
The Gondolo Calendario 5135 G shared the men's prize with a Zenith.
Generations and strap changes
- 2026Ref. 7043 Gondolo Ladies First
Six cushion-shaped models, three with diamond flanges and three Joaillerie versions with 687 diamonds, inspired by the 2009 Ladies First Chronograph and fitted with the quartz caliber E15.
31 x 34.8 mm case with articulated lugs; calfskin straps on the Ref. 7043, alligator on the Joaillerie Ref. 7043/250.
- 2023Ref. 4962/200R Gondolo Serata
The Serata returned in rose gold, slightly larger, at 28.6 x 40.85 x 7.36 mm, set with 94 spessartites graded from cognac to mandarin tones and driven by the quartz caliber E15.
- 2016Ref. 7042/100R Haute Joaillerie
A Gondolo with the manual caliber 215, its bezel, lugs, dial and bracelet set with diamonds and the bracelet strung with Akoya pearls.
Integrated gem-set bracelet with Akoya pearls rather than a strap.
- 2013Ref. 5200 Gondolo 8 Days
A white gold rectangular watch with the new caliber 28-20 REC 8J PS IRM C J: twin barrels for eight days, and a day and date that jump in three milliseconds at midnight. Monochrome noted it shares its main plate and gear train with the Ref. 5100 of 2000.
- 2007Ref. 5098 Chronometro Gondolo
Launched in platinum in 2007 and in rose gold in 2009, the tonneau 5098 copies the geometry of a 1925 Chronometro Gondolo but curves to the wrist, with a cambered, hand-guilloched dial and the rectangular caliber 25-21 REC.
Patek Philippe gives a width between lugs of 17 mm for the 42 x 32 mm case, with a 14 mm prong buckle.
- 2006Ref. 4991 Gondolo Gemma
A ladies' Gondolo that won the Ladies' Watch Prize at the 2006 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve.