Some here have
the pleasure to wear a Patek Philippe perpetual calendar watch every day. Some
of those even wear my favourite 5159G, or even better, a 5970P! Many have also
worn a 3940 – or a more recent 5140 – for years!
For long the
3940 was the "simplest" complicated Patek Philippe watch when you
would not satisfy yourself with a simple date watch.
When the annual
calendar was issued it was a very useful complication offered to those who
wanted to step up from the classic entry level Calatrava range. To some extent
it was also intended to seduce a younger audience.
A perpetual
calendar is a fascinating mechanism. I've always found incredible to
think that such a tiny mechanical calibre had a single wheel that was making
one single turn every four years!
Still a
perpetual calendar was and still often is seen as a delicate mechanism to use
and settle. The new annual calendar invented by Patek Philippe was intended to
be much more usable, and as efficient. By the way as long as mechanical watches
will have to be serviced more or less every 5 years the perpetuity will be
theoretical!
Perpetually
looking for my ideal Patek Philippe watch I hardly considered the 5146 as an
option. The 5396 was always my favourite aesthetical choice. Still it was
always too classic on my wrist. While travelling by train to Paris to discover the new Patek Philippe
chronograph last month I had the surprise to spot a 5146G with slate dial on
the wrist sat in front of me. For nearly three hours I couldn't stop from
glancing!
The next
morning I had the same watch on my wrist (well only in the Patek Philippe
boutique, it's still a dream to accomplish).
You can see the
watch pictured here.
The watch is
just so understated, so modern looking, and at the same time so classy.
The dial is
full of indications with the hours and minutes, the centre seconds hand, the
day, date and month, the moon phase and the power reserve indicator. The dial
is full but neatly organized and shows a very nice balance.
In fact I think
that for many the appeal of a chronograph is to have a filled dial, contrasting
xith "simple" watches. The annual calendar is more than a
chronograph.
I still find
the 5396 very beautiful. The classical ref 96 case style and the "aperture"
calendar are quite nice. The more rounded 5146 is not just modern, it is also
linked to some nice PPs of the past, like maybe the 2526!
The new dial
versions of the 5396 that will be launched next month will certainly attract
even more people to the annual calendar, but for me the ideal annual calendar
may well remain the 5146G.
A new men's
manual wind Patek Philippe chronograph may soon become my dream watch, and the
A. Lange & Söhne Richard Lange is still my favourite simple watch, but what
can be a more practical everyday watch at the office than an annual calendar?
I wonder if we
will see an annual calendar Nautilus someday? Like a waterproof stainless steel
Richard Lange would be the only better simple option, an all weather annual may
not just tempt me!
If you wear an
annual calendar every day please share your experience with us.
Thank you for
reading.
Cheers
Dje