Produced in the late 1970s, this Patek Philippe Gondolo Reference 3553 perfectly embodies an era when form mattered just as much as function.
Rectangular case in 18K white gold, bark-textured guilloché dial, integrated Milanese bracelet — here, everything is about texture, relief, substance. A rich, sculpted minimalism, with an elegance that borders on the brutal.
 
Every detail is signed, down to the clasp. The guilloché motif — both organic and structured — echoes the aesthetic developed a decade earlier by Gilbert Albert, renowned for his collaborations with Patek Philippe in the 1950s and 1960s.
A true visionary, Albert introduced a radically new visual language to Swiss watchmaking: asymmetrical cases, textures inspired by nature, raw yet poetic volumes. While he did not design this Reference 3553, his influence is clearly felt in the bold treatment of material — in the way gold seems to vibrate, to come alive. The dial is no longer a surface; it becomes a skin.
 
Inside beats the manual-winding Caliber 175 — a movement of rare mechanical elegance, fully visible once the snap-on caseback is removed. 18K gold hallmarks, case number, reference, engraved signature: nothing is missing.
 
Its proportions are ideal: 27 x 34 mm for 82 g of gold. Sized for wrists up to 18 cm — and adjustable on request by our watchmaker — it offers a seamless fusion of watchmaking and jewellery.