The Patek Philippe reference 2499 is a perpetual calendar chronograph with moon phases that succeeded the reference 1518. It was launched in 1951 and, according to Phillips, made for 34 years until 1985 in four series, with only 349 examples produced across all metals, or roughly nine a year. A second-series example in 18k pink gold from 1953 sold by Phillips measures 37.5 mm in diameter, with case, dial, movement and buckle all signed. It is powered by a manually wound 13”’ calibre with 23 jewels, based on a Valjoux 23 ebauche and stamped with the Geneva Seal. Besides the chronograph, the movement drives a perpetual calendar and moon phase display. The 2499 carried the serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch from the 1950s into the 1980s.

Collectors divide the 2499 into four series. The first (about 1951 to 1960) has square chronograph pushers, applied Arabic numerals and a tachymeter scale; early ones use a 36.2 mm Vichet case with a flat back, later ones a slightly larger Wenger case with a domed back and shorter lugs. The second series (about 1955 to 1964) brought round pushers with baton or Arabic numerals, the third (about 1960 to 1978) baton numerals and an outer seconds track, and the fourth (1978 to 1985) added a sapphire crystal. Only two were made in platinum, neither intended for sale: one is in the Patek Philippe Museum and the other, a 2499/100P made in 1987, belonged to Eric Clapton after it first appeared at the 1989 “Art of Patek Philippe” auction in Geneva.

The 2499 is regarded as one of the defining complicated wristwatches of the twentieth century, and its long run, small output and many variations make it a reference collectors study closely, down to the case maker and the presence of a “railway” date scale on first-series dials. Its auction record reflects that: Clapton’s platinum example sold at Christie’s Geneva in November 2012 for about 3.6 million dollars, a record for the reference at the time, and the 1953 pink gold second-series watch sold by Phillips in Geneva in May 2023 realised CHF 3,206,000 against an estimate of CHF 1.5 to 3 million. Auction catalogues give slightly different case diameters for similar pieces, so buyers compare details carefully. The reference 2499 is no longer produced; Patek Philippe continues the perpetual calendar chronograph in its current collection.