Patek Philippe

Topcat30093
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The first six weeks with my 5205G………

This is the first review of a watch that I have ever done, so please bear with me, especially if the construction of it , is not quite in sync!

As most of the regular members will know, and probably frustrated after, I have been in love with this piece, especially with the darker coloured (grey) dial from the moment that I first saw the photos that came out from Basel 2010. So much so that when I saw a dummy model at my AD the following month, I asked them to let me know, when the first one came in.
In the meantime, not having the cash available for such a purchase, I went about doing some “Wheeling & Dealing” of my small collection, which included my FP Journe Black Label Calendrier, which to a degree I still very much regret selling.  

Long story short, I received a phone call from my AD back in September asking me if I was still keen on getting a 5205G?
Yes was my reply, so after a small deposit had been placed and a visit to Patek Philippe Manufacture with my AD in October I waited..
The phone call - that so many of us have relished, saying that “Your watch” has arrived, came in the middle of November, which was perfect, as we were due to attend one of the dealers pre Christmas evening shin dings at that time.

After I had collected the piece, still all sealed in it’s box and had returned home, it remained sealed in its box, for a further couple of days, until I had the time to enjoy the “Opening Ceremony”

On a side issue, while we were visiting Patek, I again had the opportunity to wear the 5205G, but I was slightly dismayed how small it appeared on my wrist, which I thought was strange, as being a 40mm piece, it normally fitted perfectly.
Then I realised that the Omega that I was wearing was about 42-43mm in diameter, so once I had returned from my visit , I replaced it with another Omega but one that was only 34mm.
Now when I placed the 5205G onto my wrist, it once again looked perfect, my ploy had paid off!!

I have now worn it virtually non stop since I removed it from it’s packaging. It’s a very comfortable fitting piece to wear, and though it does sit quite high up from the wrist, I have only caught it the once, this may also be helped by the way that the case becomes concaved as it leads up towards the crystal, instead of being the more normal curved shaped.  

The strap does not come on a deployant, which did surprise me at first, as all my other “Complicated” Pateks had. But you can of course order one from Patek. I did ask Patek why this one, but no definitive answer was given, but I did work out that the price for a 5205G with a deployant works out to about the same as the 5396G (which already has a deployant)
I couldn’t quite get the strap to fit perfectly on my wrist, either it was slightly to loose or to tight, in the end I went with the former. I also changed around the strap so that the tail was on the inside as I knew from experience that I would keep on catching it.
Having a smallish wrist, the tail is approx an inch long, so I have ordered a shorter strap to see how that one fits.
And of course for the first two weeks of wearing the watch, the strap was it’s normal squeaky self, but that soon passed.

The build quality and finishing, are as you would expect, excellent and I have found no flaws in either of them.

The design of the case is very much to my liking, especially the way that it sits on the wrist. The layout of the dial and apertures, strongly remind me of it’s more complicated siblings, the 5960 (not only for the apertures, but also for the sub dial at the 6 o’clock position which appear the same size) & 5207. These may have been some of the reasons why I was instantly attracted to it.
Another pleasant thing for me, while wearing the watch, there was no sound or feeling of the rotor moving, which again maybe down to the size & height of the case, in every other automatic Patek that I have worn, this has never been the case, so a big thumbs up for that. Though if you hold the watch up close to your ear, you can hear the rotor at work.

The darker colour of the dial with it’s highly polished w/g hands, does cause some legibility issues, especially in low light and I imagine that the lighter coloured dial is a lot easier to read. I just happen to prefer darker dials.
Also when I first saw the 5205 I was slightly put of it, by the white coloured second & am/pm hands, now I think that if it had been reversed and that the hour & minutes hands, were indeed white or another colour it would have been a lot easier. Another way around it, may have been if the glass had been treated with an anti glare product?
But if you catch the dial at the right angle or in daylight it just makes me smile as well as giving me that “Wow” factor. And the layout and position of the apertures are very much to my tastes and are so easy to read.

Now I know that the shape of the lugs have caused some condemnations and have caused some forum members to say that they are to modern and not in keeping with tradition, but again I find them so unique, they remind me of “Open Torpedo Tubes”
To be honest, you don’t actual notice them when you are wearing it.
I also like the way that the crown is slightly recessed into the case, thus offering some additional protection from being accidentally knocked. The pushers are nicely located and easily accessible, with two at the 9 o’clock position on the case and the other two either side of the crown.

The accuracy of the 324 movement is quite outstanding, and the loss or gain can be measured over a week rather then a day. Though the strange thing is, unlike other pieces that I have worn, this one does not appear to either continually gain or lose, but instead will do both!!!
When I have checked it against the atomic clock app on the iphone, sometimes it would have gained between 1-3 seconds and the next time that I come to check it, it may have loss those seconds and actually be losing say 2-3 seconds??
This doesn’t over duly concern me, and of course it could be the movement “wearing in” but I have never seen one that does both!
We shall see how it goes over the next few months, but as it stands the movement has never been out (one way or another) by more then 8 seconds and I have never had to adjust it, because it was minutes out.
Bearing in mind that the watch is worn virtually 24/7 (even when I am asleep) would this have any effect upon the accuracy?

The only surprise/disappointment that it has provided me with, was when November moved into December, and the date/day moved but the month didn’t!!
Now unusually for me I kept calmed and didn’t get straight onto my AD, instead I spent the morning using a combination of the pushers & manual winding of the hands and went through the entire year making sure that the date/day/month moved forward as they should, which they did. The final test was to reset the watch back to around 9pm on the 30th Nov and let time take its course, which invariably it did and all changed perfectly. Today is the 1st January 2011 and with relief I saw that the month had also moved on. I shall now wait and see that the same happens with a shorter month!

Am I pleased that I sold my other pieces to get this one………………You betcha.

Has it stopped me from looking or wanting to get another watch?
Err, to a degree, but not completely!!

If anything it has heightened my liking for the 5960P grey dial, which now in hindsight (such a wonderful thing) I wished that had I bought instead of the 5140G. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.

Regards

Tony