Patek Philippe have been a bit quiet this year and that is quite understandable, as for the most part all major watch manufacturers have not only had to close down for a short period but have also had no location to showcase any new pieces – both due COVID-19. However, most if not all watch brands have now decided to communicate their 2020 novelties via online means and yesterday Patek introduced 3 new pieces, one of them being this 5270, which for the first time is available in yellow-gold.
Yesterday, Patek unveiled the newest iteration of their flagship piece, the Ref. 5270J-001. Yes, J for yellow-gold, something they haven’t done yet on the 5270. While yellow-gold isn’t perhaps seen as the king of metals, it is experiencing something of a renaissance and it seems like this is a real push by Patek to get more people on board the 5270.
There are no major noticeable changes to the dial, where Patek Philippe has introduced what they call a ‘silvery opaline’ dial. Atop the dial are applied gold baton indices and matching leaf-shaped hands, alongside the standard 2 aperture, 3 sub dial layout of the perpetual calendar chronograph. I must say, that Patek’s choice of applied gold batons does look good. And that’s just it – they look good, however, I feel they possibly could have gone in a different direction with this latest addition to their iconic Perpetual Calendar Chronograph line-up and opted for a more distinguished look using applied dot markers and a Roman numeral at 12 o’clock – something not too dissimilar from the 5970J-Roman with champagne dial.
Same with the previous execution, the 5270J is powered by the calibre 29-535 PS Q, Patek Philippe’s first in-house perpetual calendar chronograph movement. This replaced the previous Lemania based 27-70 Q which was used in the 5970 and was meant to be a step up by Patek, finally integrating all movements in-house.
Interestingly though, the 5970 (the previous generation perpetual calendar chronographs) has been rising in price because it is seen as the last of the Lemania based movements and collectors seemingly have a romantic inclination towards this idea whereas the 5270 doesn’t share the love and can be bought relatively easily from a Patek Philippe boutique.
Though, going back to my comment on the dial – it would’ve been nice to have seen Patek use a champagne dial on this latest piece as I’m in no doubt this would’ve added an extra element of wow-factor. Not to mention it would’ve clearly distinguished this example from the rose-gold model introduced in 2015.
With that question out of the way though, no doubt this is seriously a beautiful piece. The silvery opaline tone is still a good look and the contrast created between the yellow-gold case and the gold markers and hands is in-keeping with Patek’s current theme. I do think that any perpetual calendar chronograph from Patek Philippe will always be a collectible watch and a sound investment. It may go through dips and turns where the interest may wane, but the history of the manufacture producing these watches is just so deep and strong, with the name Patek Philippe and the term perpetual calendar chronograph so heavily entwined, that I doubt it will ever change.
The Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph ref. 5270J is priced at £129,350. For more information, visit patek.com.
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