Shining Example

An understated icon of one of today’s top manufactures celebrates its half-century mark.

- Lynette Koh

What do the Parthenon, the works of the late Swiss architect Le Corbusier and the Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse wristwatch have in common? Their proportions were apparently inspired by the principles of the golden section – a ratio of approximately 1 to 1.6180 – which was first discovered by mathematicians in ancient Greece and thought to be the foundation for harmoniously balanced design.

Little wonder then that Golden Ellipse fans, such as Michael Kwan, a senior adviser with Japanese trading giant Itochu, and Paris-based watch aficionado Dan Souffir, are all praise for the timepiece – which made waves with its distinctive, rounded rectangular form when it was launched in 1968. Kwan, who bought his yellow-gold, blue-dialled Ref. 3738/100J-012 in 2013, says: “It’s a very elegant watch, and an evergreen model that has been around for many years. I first saw a similar model back in the 1970s on a friend.”