Category: Patek Philippe

Patek Philippe Calatrava 6007G

Patek Philippe is introducing an updated Calatrava with a series of primary-colored dial variations. Patek Philippe Calatrava 6007GPatek Philippe is introducing an updated Calatrava with a series of primary-colored dial variations.

Meet the new Patek Philippe Reference 6007G, in three different colors: yellow (ref. 6007G-001), red (6007G-010), and blue (6007G-011). It’s similar to the limited-edition 6007A that Patek released back in 2020 to celebrate the opening of its new manufacturer, but now it’s in white gold, not steel. Unlike that model, the new 6007G uses Patek’s newer-generation movement, the caliber 26-330 S C. Like 2020’s 6007A, the new 6007G measures 40mm in diameter and 9mm thick. The white gold case is entirely polished and water resistant to 30 meters. The dial in each of the three references is black, with yellow, red, or sky blue accents on the minute and hour track, and a matching center seconds hand. On the black calfskin strap, Patek has also added contrast stitching that matches these colorful accents

Keeping with the more casual vibe of the Patek Philippe Reference 6007G watch, the Arabic numerals and hands have Super-Luminova. Keeping with the fact that it’s still a Patek, the numerals are applied and in white gold.

The black dial has different finishes for each of its concentric circles: “carbon style” stamped guilloche is in the center, surrounded by circular graining and brushing. It’s the same dial treatment seen in the 6007A (and last year’s 5935 World Timer); we’ve also seen the carbon-style guilloche in a unique 5004T and 5208T. Yes, the guilloche in the 6007G is stamped, and yes, it was hand-engraved on those unique examples. Those unique examples also sold for EUR 2.9 million and CHF 6.2 million, respectively. The 6007G already costs nearly $40,000, so adding elements of true engine-turned guilloche would’ve sent it into another stratosphere.

The new Patek Philippe Reference 6007G trio is powered by Patek’s relatively new caliber 26-330 S C, which can be seen through the sapphire caseback. It has a date at 3 o’clock, hacking seconds, and ticks at 28,800 beats per hour with a 45-hour power reserve. It represents a practical (hacking seconds!) and technical upgrade over the 6007A’s 324.

First introduced in 2019 as a base for the surprisingly lovely 5212A Weekly Calendar, Patek also swapped the 26-330 into the Nautilus 5711 for the last couple years of its run. Its most important technical upgrade as compared to the 324 is the addition of a new second wheel that’s made using LIGA and has long, slotted teeth on each gear. This is meant to smooth the ticking of the seconds hand and prevent the backlash seen on other seconds hands.Retail for each color of the 6007G is $37,850. A lot for a time-and-date watch, to be sure, but also in line with last year’s 5226 ($40,220, also powered by the 26-330), and within spitting distance of the more traditionally-minded manual-wind 6119G ($31,940). It’s also about the same as that Weekly Calendar I love, which I’d probably take if I had a spare $40,000, but I can already hear my local authorized dealer laughing about my chances of getting one of those, even as I type this sentence (hi, Allison!). It’s easy to point to the recent 6007A as the inspiration for this watch, but really this more casual, perhaps instrument-inspired take on the Calatrava can be traced back to the early ’90s when Patek introduced the 5000G. This was followed by the 6000G in 2005 and then the 6006G in 2017, both larger riffs on the original 5000G that added a pointer date. Thirty years on, the design is a well-trodden, if infrequent, part of Patek’s Calatrava catalog.

With watches like the Patek Philippe Reference 6007G , last year’s 5226G, and even the 5212A, it seems Patek is trying to chart a middle-ground for a new kind of Patek Philippe watch. It’s not a sport watch (this is clearly not a Nautilus or Aquanaut), and it’s not your grandfather’s Patek (for that, there’s the 6119). It’s a daily wearer for the type of person who wants a Patek – someone who’s ready for a Calatrava, but maybe they discovered watches years ago via something like a Hamilton Khaki Field or IWC Pilot’s Watch, or even that eye-popping run of colored Rolex Oyster Perpetuals.

Of course, it’s funny that what’ll probably be referred to as the “colorful Calatravas” still have black dials and really aren’t that colorful. A few secondary pops of bright colors is all it takes to liven up a line that’s been around since 1932.

There’s a rumor that the original 5000G was produced for a potential Patek-Ferrari partnership and is inspired by a car’s instrumentation. The partnership never came to fruition, but if the rumor is true, the red-accented 6007G especially feels like the most attenuated of connections to the origin story of the reference that laid the groundwork for this new trio of Calatravas. If Rolex can try out brand-new bezel and dial colors (and combinations thereof), I think we can allow Patek a few colorful tick marks and a sweeping seconds hand.

I’d quibble with other details that stray from older Pateks like that 5000G – a smaller diameter and no date would’ve been nice – but with the different dial finishes, at least the dial looks proportional. Perhaps because of the red we’ve seen in Pateks before (in limited editions, piece uniques, and even standard production watches) or just my Chicago Bulls fandom, the red 6007G-010 makes the most sense to me.

Light blue is a trendier pick, though at least it’s a few shades away from that other light-blue Patek. It does feel very Patek that, for its “colorful Calatravas,” it’d choose the three primary colors. No reason to spin the color wheel around too far.

I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t mind your grandfather’s Patek and might even prefer it (especially if it happens to be this one), but who also wants a modern Patek to be a modern Patek. While perhaps more expensive than an old Calatrava, the new 6007G strikes a workable balance between traditional and modern, sport and dress, restrained and colorful.

Patek Philippe Aquanauts Flyback Chronograph And Aquanaut Luce

It’s the year of rose gold for the Aquanaut. Patek has introduced a trio of new models for the Aquanaut, all in rose gold: an Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar, the Patek Philippe Aquanaut Chronograph, and for good measure, an Aquanaut with 48 diamonds on the bezel.

First up is the Aquanaut Chronograph 5968R to the collection. Here, the rose gold case measures 42.2mm by 11.9mm, and a composite brown strap matches the brown dial. The 5968R takes the familiar form of the Aquanaut chronograph and renders it in rose gold. That means the 42mm case has 120 meters of water resistance, and the brown dial has a sunburst effect that ends in a black rim towards the dial’s edge. Through the sapphire caseback, you can see Patek’s self-winding flyback chronograph CH 28-520 C. It powers the central chronograph hand and the Aquanaut’s signature 60-minute counter at 6 o’clock. It’s a column wheel movement with a vertical disk clutch. MSRP is CHF 64,000.

Just a couple of millimeters smaller, Patek has added the new Aquanaut Luce reference 5261R. It’s an annual calendar – a complete day, date, and month calendar that needs just one manual correction (at the end of February).  The rose gold case measure 39.9mm by 10.9mm in thickness, and it’ll come on the well-known Aquanaut composite strap in a blue-grey that matches the dial. Of note, Patek’s introducing a new movement in the 5261R, the 26-330 S QA LU. It’s based on the 26-330 S C Patek introduced in 2019 (and used in the last generation of the 5711 and this year’s 6007G release, among others). MSRP on the new Aquanaut Luce will be CHF 52,000.

Alongside the 5261R, Patek has added the 5268/200R to its Aquanaut lineup – a 38.8mm Aquanaut with 38 diamonds on the bezel. This one’ll set you back CHF 45,500. That means the 42mm case has 120 meters of water resistance, and the brown dial has a sunburst effect that ends in a black rim towards the dial’s edge. 

Through the sapphire caseback, you can see Patek’s self-winding flyback chronograph CH 28-520 C. It powers the central chronograph hand and the Aquanaut’s signature 60-minute counter at 6 o’clock. It’s a column wheel movement with a vertical disk clutch. MSRP is CHF 64,000. Since Patek launched the Aquanaut Flyback Chronograph in steel in 2018 (as the 5968A), we could’ve assumed it’d make it’s way into rose gold, and probably in something that looked kind of like the 5968R we see her now. It’s got the brown dial we’ve seen in other rose gold Pateks (hello there, 5167R), and the matching brown strap is a delightful chocolate bar. It joins the steel 5968A and a pair of white gold 5968G models as Patek continues to fill out its collection of Aquanaut chronographs.
While we might’ve known something like the 5968R was coming eventually, I’m not sure many people expected the Aquanaut Luce, and I think that makes it even better. It’s in a 40mm Aquanaut case, which Patek refers to as its ladies’ line. 

The last few years, Patek’s added the Travel Time 5269R and the “Rainbow” chronograph 5968R, and now Patek’s adding a sportier, non-gemset watch to its lineup of smaller Aquanauts. And I might just love it.
Patek only introduced the annual calendar in the 1990s as a practical (and cheaper) alternative to more complex calendars, so it’s a natural fit for a smaller Aquanaut. Instead of the brown seen in the chronograph, the dial is a soft blue-grey that’s a monotone across the entire dial. There’s a composite strap to match. Patek’s put the moonphase under 12 o’clock, and the month and day sit at 9 and 3 o’clock, respectively. 

Patek Philippe New Aquanauts to a Gem-Set Chiming Piece

The oldest independent, family-owned Genevan watch manufacture is famously tight-lipped when it comes to what will be culled from its collections and what will appear in place—so informed observers were surprised when Patek Philippe watch announced, days before Watches & Wonders, that it would be welcoming some exciting new novelties into the Calatrava family—its new white gold varieties applying a contemporary, graphic new aesthetic to its iconic, dressy, round wristwatch line.

Those sneak preview additions to the line feature a black dial whose distinguishing feature is an embossed chequered pattern in a smaller circle at the center, which juxtapose elegantly with the flashes of yellow, sky blue, or red (depending on which you opt for) found on the counters, seconds hands and strap stitching.
Also unveiled in Geneva, as part of Patek Philippe watch ’s “Rare Handcrafts 2023” collection being presented at its Salons in Geneva from April 1 to 15, was a pocket watch featuring a leopard, rendered in marquetry. The piece involved the assemblage of 363 tiny veneer parts and 50 inlays, and a palette of 21 species of wood of different colors, textures, and veining.

But there’s more: much more. Introducing its new watches in Geneva—the home city the Stern family—for only the second time, Patek had a few more surprises up its sleeve. Here’s what else they unveiled this time around.
Patek Philippe’s three new Calatrava references have white gold cases, ebony dials, and their own accent colors: red, yellow, or pale blue, applied to the seconds track, seconds hand, indexes, and the stitching of the matching leather strap. The intriguing dials feature a crosshatch pattern reminiscent of carbon fiber, which matches the treatment on the strap, giving each of the three a distinctly sporty feel.
Featuring a witty inversion of the tonneau watch shape, this new iteration of the Gondolo Serata has a brown-lacquered dial whose floral decoration is created by a matt/polished contrast. Breguet numerals and a chocolate brown calfskin strap complete the effect.

Patek Philippe is rightly very proud of its line named after a boutique in Rio De Janeiro, Gondolo from which roughly a third of the watchmaker’s output was purchased during World War II—and this addition to the family, whose case is set with 94 brilliant-cut spessartites, will surely enhance that pride. These create a two-tone effect (Patek refers to the colors as “cognac” and “mandarine”), complementing very first watchmakers (a group also comprising Piaget and Omega) to delve into electronic timekeeping’s potential back in the late 1940s, and here a Quartz movement carries out its tireless work behind a solid case back. Arguably the most striking of the new models bolstering the Calatrava lines, this self-winding model is housed in a rose-gold case and has a strap and dial in purple (the latter packs impressive visual depth, thanks to its pattern of concentric waves being made up of more than fifty layers of translucent lacquer).
Another rose gold, self-winding addition to the Calatrava collection—which, since its launch in 1932, has become widely considered the gold standard when it comers to dress watches—bolsters Patek’s repertoire when it comes to travel watches, thanks to its 24-hour display.

The Patek Philippe watch case is afforded an imperious flourish by its curved, two-tier lugs whilst the traditional local time correction pushers on the left side of the caseband now have a patented crown-operated correction system.

The navy blue dial with hand-laid rose gold appliques, enhanced by contrasting finishes, received no little praise in Geneva, as did the piece’s overall legibility and usability.
Horological aesthetes witnessing this unveiling at the Palexpo convention center in Geneva enthused about this piece’s appearance—the interaction with the white gold and rose gold with its brown opaline dials.

The more tech-minded onlookers, meanwhile, found themselves engaged with the piece’s 20 complications, including five acoustic functions (two of which are patented world exclusives: an alarm sounding the programmed time and a date-repeater striking the date on demand).

Another major talking point proved to be its reversible double-sided case, singled out in the horological arena by its patented swivel mechanism (which means it can be worn with either dial visible).