Patek Philippe

amanico
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Some pictures and thoughts on the 5970.

I recently had the pleasure to see a 5970 in the flesh, and to play with it a whole afternoon.

My interrogation was to know if, for a 5070 owner, the 5970 was not a bit too " redundant ".

After all, the 5970 is a Chronograph, too.

But not only, as you all know.

I would say that the 5970 has a different personnality.

While the 5070 is, to me, an elegant and discrete sporty chrono, the 5970 is more on the elegant and refinement playground, due to the addition of the perpetual calendar, to these lugs which are differently shaped, and to the more modest dimensions ( 40 mm instead of 42 mm for the 5070 ).



The bezel, and the shape of the chrono pushers are different, too.



More sophisticated, the 5970 is, and the reduced volumes contribute to this feeling.



The very good thing is that the legibility is assured, due to the windows for the day and month, and the dedicated dial for the date.

For once, a perpetual calendar combined to a chronograph, is easy to read, as the 2 complicatons are clearly separated.

The dial, well balanced, is not too busy, and shows a certain elegance.



The Moonphase brings a touch of life and contrast to dynamize the silver and understated dial:



So, yes, to me, the 5070 and the 5970 are really complementary, not redundant at all.

Each of them has its own charms:



The other question, much more difficult to answer, was to try to guess which one, of the 5970 or of the Vacheron Chronograph Perpetual Malte, Ref 47 212, is the more appealing.

To me, they are very close, in the spirit, and in the look.

The VC is a tad bigger ( 1 more millimeter ), and looks a bit thicker, too, but these special lugs, and the grained dial are just devastating:



You will notice the same separation of the complications on the VC, as well as the same legibility.

I must admit a slight preference for the Vacheron, for its additional touch of elegance ( grained dial ) and for its superb lugs.

But I guess that choosing between these last 2 references is just a delicate and sublime dilemma.

Now, if we have to confront the Black 5970 in its platinum version and its E.S Vacheron Constantin Perpetual Calendar Chronograph, I think I will have a different conclusion, because of the sublime strenght of the Patek:





Looking forward to hear your opinions,

Best.

Nicolas.