By Harlan Chapman-Green
There’s a lot of Patek Philippe going on on WristReview at the moment, don’t worry though, it’s all part of the plan. Of course, any watchaholic knows that today was the first day of Baselworld 2018, where most of the watch world meets up to show off new timepieces, mingle with the press and generally connect to relish in our shared passion, watches. Undoubtedly one of the most popular companies of the show is Patek Philippe which has focused on offering more options for its buyers than before, although there is a new world timer as well.
A little trend I’m starting to see more of is the salmon pink coloured dial. It’s not my personal favourite but it certainly does add variety to a collection. One of the introductions at this year’s Baselworld is the Patek Philippe reference 5270P with a chronograph and perpetual calendar. This watch is seen as horology royalty and competes with other super high-end offerings such as Lange’s Datograph Perpetual. To keep the line fresh the dial has been changed. As well as the salmon pink dial the Breguet numerals have been replaced by straight Arabics, but I’m not entirely sure why as there is less character with this shape. It could be to balance out the wild colouration of the dial, things just might have gotten a little too intense for Patek’s taste.
The dial layout on this watch is excellently balanced with three subdials, two windows and two portholes for a couple of other indications I’ll explain in a moment. But first, let’s take a moment to appreciate the symmetry of the dial, it’s something that seems very pleasing to the eye, although most will have trouble explaining it. The chronograph registers are at 3 and 9 o’clock, with a moonphase and rotary date indicator at 6 o’clock, either side of that are a day/night indicator on the left and a leap year indicator on the right, finally, at 12 o’clock are the day and month windows.
All of this is powered by the insanely beautiful calibre 29-535 PS Q which is built and finished to the standard of the Seal of Patek Philippe, features 456 individual parts and a Breguet balance spring. It’s all cased up in a 41mm platinum case with a chocolate coloured strap and sells for 165,000 Swiss Francs, or £143,230. For more info, visit Patek Philippe online.
