Vintage calatrava ref 96 - please help !!
I recently purchased a vintage Patek Philippe ref 96 which was made in 1940.
The watch has a beautiful caliber 12""120 manual movement with swan neck regulation but I've noticed that the movement is simply signed "Patek Philippe" and the movement number WITHOUT the usual "adjusted to five positions etc" and the Geneva Seal :-( ......
Is this normal or do only Patek Philippe's best quality movements have the adjustments and Geneva Seal and is mine therefore likely to be of a "lower grade" of quality ???
Many thanks in advance for all your replies !!
- Sean (I am new to the forum and Patek Philippe so please accept my apologies for my ignorance)
Some were made with Geneva Seal and some not. I do not think
there was a quality difference .
Not sure if would make much difference to me either way
I have a number of 9-90 movements some with the seal and some not
Would love to see pics of the watch and movement
Julian
i d not think
it's a big issue if the movement has got such engraving(seal) or not.
I have got some ref.96 with 12-120 with just 'PATEK PHILIPPE'.
regards,
john
Don´t worry...
Don´t worry about that!
You have a watch with a high grade (chronometre grade) movement despite the lack of a Geneva seal or the common
chronometre "wording" and I am sure it would have the same appreciation in case you would ever decide to sell it...
And Ref 96 is an all time classic despite of the small size - it is the proportions of the watch.
You know it is not (all the time) size that matters... 
enjoy your marvel!
best
erich
Thanks for the replies everyone.....
I would attach a photo but can't figure out how to do it !! - the 'Insert image' button at the top of the editor requires a URL (and the photo is only locally on my hard drive) and the 'New Beta Image uploader' at the end of the editor doesn't seem to help much :-(