Patek Philippe has just announced their second round of new releases for 2021, without a single Nautilus in sight. It’s the real deal: Grand Complications, Complications and Calatravas.
Despite their immense hype and reception on day one of Watches & Wonders, we won’t be talking about the new Nautiluses here (beacause we already talked about them here). Instead, we will show you what the Genevese giant is truly capable of.
Patek Philippe decided to split the releases in two, a choice which, in itself made a big statement. Thierry’s tenure seems to be saying that the Nautilus is for the public, but Grand Complications are for true connoisseurs.
The two new Calatravas: 6119R & 6119G
The first novelties we’ll discuss are elegant and fascinating in their simplicity.
Patek Philippe has introduced two new Calatravas with a fantastic hobnail pattern finish on the bezel, the so-called “Clou De Paris”, and a whole new movement. The Calatrava collection is both the most timeless and significant for the Genevse watchmaker.
This new reference 6119 is offered in two different versions. Both feature the distinctive “dauphine” hands and multifaceted indices called “Obus”. Neither of them have lume, making them textbook dress watches.
The pink gold version has a silvery grained dial, which, from the press photos, seems to have a very warm tones, amplified by the case metal, indices and hands.
The white gold version has a beautiful charcoal grey dial, with a vertical satin finish, which gives it a very intense shine despite the dark colour.
How often are you left unsatisfied with the finishing and decoration of a movement when you turn a watch over? Well, with these two Calatravas (this also applies to all the other 2021 novelties) Patek really left us speechless: a new manual winding mechanism, beautifully engineered and perfectly fillng the whole case.
Both new Calatrava 6119s are equipped with the new 30-255 PS hand-wound Calibre: a 65-hour power reserve movement with a small seconds complication. Just look at the finishing… isn’t it lovely?
Retail Prices for both the 6119R and 6119G: €26,150
The new Patek Philippe Annual Calendar 4974/1A
Perhaps the weakest link out of Patek Philippe’s second round of releases is the stainless steel Annual Calendar 4974A.
With this reference, the maison introduced its first Annual Calendar on a 38mm round steel case. In fact, the only case in which this complication appeared on a steel watch is that of the 5726 Nautilus, which – however – has a diameter of 40mm and the signature porthole case.
The blue dial has a Shantung finish, named after a peculiar strand of silk. The movement is the ever-reliable 324 S QA LU we all know and love, with a moonphase indicator as well as a calendar.
Retail Price for the 4974/1A: €42,360
The new Patek Philippe “In-line” Perpetual Calendar 5236P
This new reference debuts with a platinum case and a beautiful satin finished blue dial. I never thought I’d say this, but now that green is literally everywhere, blue is quite welcomed in my opinion!
The real novelty of this Perpetual Calendar is the unusual calendar display. You may have noticed that the date is shown on the same line, through large adjacent apertures in the middle of the dial.
This type of display is inspired by pocket watches of the past, featuring “à l’américaine” calendars, which read in the order of “month, date and day”, such as the ref. 699/2, Perpetual Calendar with Minute Repeater.
It is the first time in the rich history of the maison, however, that this complication is executed with this type of display on a wristwatch. The result is a simple and clean, easy to read dial that just exudes elegance.
The New Self-Winding 31-260 PS QL calibre.
This new mechanism required 118 additional parts compared to a conventional perpetual calendar.
Another noteworthy aspect is that the caliber now occupies the entire diameter of the case, as with the aforementioned new Calatrava. This is a detail which completely changes the aesthetics of the caseback and that really makes the difference when you are looking at it. Oh, and the platinum micro-rotor (instead of gold) is a real doozy!
Retail Price for the 5236P: €115,060 (taxes incl.)
Conclusions
In Italian we say: “pochi ma buoni” – very few, but very, very nice.
Overall, we are satisfied with these new releases. Almost all brands played it safe making micro changes to already existing collections and watches. We think proposing a whole new Perpetual Calendar was a great move. Thierry is really out here playing chess whilst everyone else is playing checkers!
-Translated by Claudio F.
