1/28/2024 0 Comments Patek philippe chronographHate It Or Love ItĪt the time the dial layout was quite polarising. White indicates day, and dark blue is for night. Completing the mono-counter is a day/night indicator. There’s a central chronograph seconds display, but no running seconds. The shorter white (or blue) hand on the inner number circle counts elapsed hours up to 12 hours. On the two outer scales, the longer red hand indicates minutes from 0 to 30 and 30 to 60. It incorporates the chronograph counters into a single display. That’s why at six o’clock you will find a large, mono-counter. But again, Patek chose a different route with the Ref 5960P. Next, you would expect to see two or three sub-dials for the chronograph indications. And underneath it is a discrete power reserve indicator. Across the top section of the dial are three individual calendar windows. The solution Patek came up with was ingenious, if a little unconventional. There’s a lot of indications to display at the same time. Combing an annual calendar with a chronograph, while practical, can also be messy. What stands out even more than the case though is the layout of the dial. Patek designed the Ref 5960P to be almost passable as a dress watch. It’s not a slim watch by any means at around 13.5mm but it still has a svelte profile. Which is one of the reasons collectors say it’s so easy to wear on a daily basis. By today’s standards though, it’s sizing is about as close to perfect as you can get. A replacement of sorts for the Ref 5960P, but a different beast altogether.Īt 40.5mm, the polished case of the Ref 5960P was a little on the large side for the time. The next year (2015), the Ref 5905P arrived on the scene. You can read the full story on that here. Although that didn’t quite work out as intended. An all steel model that the brand threw its full weight behind. The reason it seemed, was to make way for the Ref 5960/1A-001. Ditto for the rose gold version that had followed in 2009. Less than a decade later Patek made the surprising decision to nix the Ref 5960P in 2014. A surprising assessment of a timepiece that retailed for close to US$100k! I’ve heard more than one collector describe it as the ultimate, every day watch. Yet at the same time you would be hard-pressed to find a platinum-cased watch from the brand that is as wearable. Patek reserves this precious metal for when it wants to make a statement. The third drawcard, albeit an obvious one, is its platinum case. This was a luxury watch you could wear and use every day. Easy to read dial, with a novel mono-counter at 6 o’clock and three large calendar apertures across the top. Elegant yet sporty, this was not your buttoned-down classic Patek dress watch. Or anything on the market for that matter. It was unlike any other annual calendar watch in the collection at the time. The Ref 5960P was also a pioneer in other ways. (Patek debuted the Annual Calendar in the Ref 5035J in 1996. But especially when it incorporates a complication the brand invented a decade earlier. Anytime Patek develops a new movement it’s a big deal. Before that, the brand had relied on external movements modified in-house. The Caliber CH 28-520 IRM QA 24H with annual calendar and flyback functionality. First, it debuted the brand’s inaugural self-winding, in-house chronograph movement. Unveiled in 2006, the Patek Philippe Ref 5960P is special to collectors for more reason than one.
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