Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Patek Philippe · Cubitus
Patek Philippe Cubitus 42 mm Blue Stainless
Reference 22129ST.48
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Patek Philippe
- Collection
- Cubitus
- Model
- Patek Philippe Cubitus 42 mm Blue Stainless
- Reference number
- 22129ST.48
- Year / era
- 1970 · 1970s — quartz-crisis era
- Complication
- Flyback chronograph
- Movement
- In-house manual-winding, hand-finished
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Dial type
- Blue "Grande Tapisserie"
- Strap / bracelet
- Oyster bracelet
- Water resistance
- 150 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 42 mm
- Case thickness
- 8.1 mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Bezel
- Baguette diamond rainbow
- Crystal
- Anti-reflective sapphire, double-domed
- Dial
- Blue "Grande Tapisserie"
- Hands
- Rhodium-plated baton hands with luminous fill
- Indexes
- Applied faceted white-gold indexes
- Bracelet / strap
- Oyster bracelet
- Clasp / buckle
- Titanium deployant clasp
- Water resistance
- 150 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 84D — In-house manual-winding, hand-finished
- Movement type
- Manual-winding
- Frequency
- 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 38 hours
- Number of jewels
- 40 jewels
- Complications
- Flyback chronograph
- Functions
- Chronograph, tachymeter, date
- Watchmaker
- Assembled and regulated by a single watchmaker, who signs off the piece before casing.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1970 – 1976
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Thin secondary-market supply — pricing is set piece by piece at auction.
Designer
Jörg Hysek
Jörg Hysek left Rolex and Seiko's European studios to build a design practice in Geneva, giving houses such as Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Seiko and TAG Heuer their sculptural, architecture-led cases before founding his own brand, HD3.
Historical significance
Patek Philippe Cubitus 42 mm Blue Stainless sits within Patek Philippe's Cubitus line, introduced in 1970. It carries the house codes established since 1839 — stainless steel case, blue "grande tapisserie" dial and in-house manual-winding, hand-finished — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The case is finished by hand, alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces in a single pass so the edges stay razor sharp.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
The House
Patek Philippe
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1839
- Founder
- Antoine Norbert de Patek & Adrien Philippe
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Ultra-Luxury & Haute Horlogerie
- Major collections
- Nautilus, Aquanaut, Calatrava, Complications, Grand Complications, Golden Ellipse, Gondolo, Twenty~4, Cubitus
- Signature technologies
- Composite and ceramic case materials · Hand-applied guilloché dials
- Famous movements
- In-house tourbillon, manual-winding · In-house automatic with 22k gold rotor · In-house manual-winding, hand-finished · In-house automatic micro-rotor
- Notable watches
- Patek Philippe Nautilus 38 mm Slate Quartz (1999) · Patek Philippe Nautilus 41 mm Blue Carbon (1995) · Patek Philippe Nautilus 38 mm Slate Sapphire (1964) · Patek Philippe Nautilus 36 mm Meteorite Grade (1986)
Brand history
Patek Philippe has spent more than 187 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Nautilus, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Antoine Norbert de Patek & Adrien Philippe established Patek Philippe in 1839, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Patek Philippe calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1839
Antoine Norbert de Patek & Adrien Philippe founds Patek Philippe in Switzerland.
1879
Patek Philippe earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces Patek Philippe to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Patek Philippe enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Patek Philippe continues to produce Nautilus, Aquanaut, Calatrava and other icons in limited numbers.