Patek Philippe

I didn't buy that particular watch, but I was intrigued. I spent hours reading through this site, asking questions of current owners, and comparing various photos online. I eventually decided in favor of the final variant, launched in 2017 and recently discontinued (along with all other 5960s). This is the 5960/01G in white gold, with a matte blue dial. There were a lot of extremely subjective criteria I thought about when making this choice. 

First, I wanted something versatile I could wear with jeans, etc., and this version seems slightly sportier than its platinum or rose-gold cousins. And I'm a sucker for red accents.

Second, although I love the steel models, I prefer somewhat heavy watches to light ones, and the steel models become pretty light once you remove the bracelet (as I would have done). That said, this version is *extremely* similar in appearance to the drop-dead-gorgeous black-dial steel version, except that the dial here is matte blue rather than gloss black (and has the tasti tondi pushers).

Third, so much of the soul of these watches lies in the execution of the "bullseye" in the bottom of the dial; the bullseye on this model seems particularly well-integrated with the rest of the dial. The blue in the interior predominate as a microcosm of the blue of the dial as a whole, and the reasonably thin silver outer border is a microcosm of the silver race track along the edge of the main dial.

Fourth, there are a few small details on this version that I love, including the framed borders for all three windows (rather than just the date window, as on the other non-steel versions) and the tasti tondi pushers (see photo below).  

Some impressions after a couple of weeks. I swapped out the original tan strap, which didn't really work for me, in favor of a blue strap that the seller threw it for free. It isn't my first choice of strap, but I've special-ordered a shorter strap with white stitching, which I think should work pretty well. I'm also pleasantly surprised by the wrist feel: I was worried that the watch would feel top-heavy or floppy, but it doesn't. The watch is generally very legible as to the time of day, even when the hour and/or minute hands overlap with the bullseye. My only critique is that the hour and minute hands sometimes obscure the chronograph reading within the bullseye. But that "flaw" is obviously inherent in the nature of this movement. 

So overall, I'm very happy. Here are some photos showing why!

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