Patek Philippe

Despite it being a collection that sits in a safe, there are a couple of watches that come out from time to time. One that does so regularly is a Patek Philippe I bought with the intention to wear "everyday".

Here is my Patek Philippe Calatrava 5107G. I absolutely love it, understated, elegant, classical, timeless.

My only quibble is that I'd prefer a deployant clasp instead of a pin buckle (and with an expensive watch like PP - every watch SHOULD come with a deployant clasp. I might get one when I replace the leather strap once that gets a bit tired.

It's so easy to tell the time, the lack of complication draws the eye to the hour and minute hands. The lack of arabic or roman numerals adds to the minimalist look, the thirteen markers giving the face what i would call a proportionate look (the 12 hour marker is 'doubled'). 

There is a small tale to be told with this watch. Around a week after I bought this watch, I placed it on the bedroom chest of drawers at my home, instead of placing in a safer place out of the reach of little hands (see my first paragraph above). I came back around 10-15 mins later to discover my then 2 year old had grabbed the watch and had the case in his mouth. He saw me with the look of horror on my face, and promptly flung it at the ground.

I picked up my watch, to discover a mark on the white gold case. I was horrified. I even visited this forum and sought advice on whether to get the watch polished or not. At the time, I was advised not to, on the grounds that the watch now "had its own story", and so anger turned to calmness soon enough.

As it happened, I bumped into an old school friend, who is now a skilled watchmaker in Auckland, and he was able to polish the scratch out at next to no cost. So while the dial now looks great again, I still get to keep the story. I've earmarked the youngest boy who threw the watch across the bedroom as the one who will inherit this watch. After all, the story belongs to him.

More posts: 5107calatrava

  login to reply