1518, 2499, 3970, 5970, 5270
By Julien Moreau, Geneva ยท
The line runs 1518, 2499, 3970, 5970, 5270, and if you can recite it without looking, you have probably spent too long in salerooms. I can, and I have.
The 1518 of 1941 was the first perpetual calendar chronograph made in series, and it remains one of the most sought-after wristwatches in existence. The 2499 followed in 1951 and ran for decades, and it is the watch most Patek collectors would choose if they were allowed only one. The 3970 and 5970 carried the idea forward on bought-in chronograph bases, and in 2011 the 5270 arrived with the first perpetual calendar chronograph movement Patek had developed entirely in-house, the CH 29-535 PS Q. That is the lineage, and it is the noblest in wristwatches. This is the platinum version, and if you look between the lugs at six you will find the small diamond Patek sets into its platinum cases, a discreet signal to those in the know and nobody else.
The watch itself is 41 mm across and 12.4 mm thick, with a silver dial, two counters, the day and month in windows under twelve, the date and moon phase at six. The movement is hand-wound and runs for 65 hours, which is respectable, and you can admire its finishing through the open back. The water resistance is 30 m, on a leather strap, and nobody sane would take it near water anyway.
Now my reservations, which are those of a man raised on the 2499. Forty-one millimetres is large next to the 37 mm of the older watches, and the newer case is a little heavier in the shoulders than the elegant cases of the 1950s. The early 5270 dials drew some unkind remarks about their proportions, and while Patek has revised the design since, I still find the old watches more graceful.
And then there is the price: two hundred and ten to two hundred and twenty thousand dollars. You can buy a fine vintage Patek perpetual for that, though not a 2499, and a great deal else besides. But that is to miss the point. The 5270 is the current chapter of the most important story in complicated wristwatches, and the man who buys one is buying into that story while it is still being written.
If you can afford one and you love the line, it is the right watch. If you are buying it to impress anyone, buy a Nautilus; it is cheaper and they will recognise it.