Perhaps the most iconic dress watch collection ever, the Patek Philippe Calatrava embodies the very essence of what a classically-styled timepiece should look like. Creating the entire dress watch niche in 1932 when it was released, the Calatrava has become a mainstay within Patek Philippe’s offerings, with the ref. 4856J standing as one of the best-known female-friendly Calatrava references from over the decades of the collection’s production. While women would previously have to wear men’s watches if they wanted to enjoy a Patek Philippe complication, the ref. 4856J’s debut allowed women to wear a svelte Calatrava with some serious horology inside. Constructed of 18kt yellow gold and weighing in at just 26mm in diameter, the ref. 4856J is a compact offering that packs a punch. Powered by the manual-wind cal. 16-250 PS LU and fitted with a white dial with applied Breguet numerals, a recessed running seconds subdial and an attractive moonphase indicator, the ref. 4856J broke new ground for Patek as it marked their serious expansion into serious women’s watches with impressive engineering and horology fit for the name Patek Philippe.

An impressive watch considering everything it squeezes into such a compact package, the re.f 4856J is the perfect watch for any female collector looking for something beside the jewel-encrusted quartz watches that have dominated women's watches over the last few decades.