BigFatPauli
1899
As you said, the VC is superior when it comes to finishing
both by practical measures (eg. interior angels) and "emotional" measures (the amount of hand finishing). A key differentiator is that I fully believe VC sees Patek and a worthy competitor. Patek, on the other hand, looks down its nose at VC. That arrogance, to me, shines through on this caliber.
Caliber 30-255 PS
I had to pinch myself to convince myself that I wasn't dreaming as I read the specifications: 31mm diameter, twin mainspring barrels with 65 hours of power reserve, finger style bridges for the running train, manual winding, 28 800 beat rate and most impo...
I think it's gorgeous
The small second hand is better proportioned than it was on prior calatravas. It's a beautiful watch.
Is there any in its range from the mass brands?
I think this is a home-run. Long awaited, but they delivered.
It's all very nice but you have to find a talented independent these days to get the absolute best finishing...
...or at least that's what it seems like. Maybe Patek in the '40s and '50s did the perfect finishing. But now they sell too many watches.
Yes! The Breguet 5177 has two internal angles!
Patek is still behind Breguet, Lange, VC on hand finishing. It's just that collectors don't seem to care, which is sad.
You're right on Breguet, many thanks for pointing that one out.
A vocal Lange fan myself, I'd say not so much with this one. This one has far more surfaces to apply anglage than a 3/4 plate, therefore it is still nice. With 215, no questions but this one seems well done.
Fair enough, but the Patek is not hand finished, only machine finished.
Unless something has changed, the advent of the "Patek seal" from the Geneva seal (the latter of which stipulates hand finishing to remove machine marks) meant that the vertical lines of machine finishing can be seen on modern Pateks from annual calendars...
So for $50k you don't even get someone to clean up the watch...
...THIS is what's wrong with the industry. But if we keep buying them then we are the suckers...
I wish people demanded more of Patek, it would push the whole field up.
Look at Dufour, the result of the hype around him has been to popularize better movement finishing in many brands. If Patek was held to a higher standard, we'd see better everything from everyone. We have only ourselves, but mostly other people, to blame....
The people who pay $150k+ are getting the nicely-finished pieces...
...while the people paying $60k are getting the leftovers. 'Entry-level' folks are just happy to have a Patek. The guys with the big pieces don't see a problem. Sadly, I'm guessing PP is more concerned with the opinion of the heavy hitters and not the 'li...
I think that's exactly right,
The upper level pieces are nice, but it's surprising how much people are willing to pay to get mid and lower level pieces which fall short compared to other brands.
Thanks, this is indeed the lovely new caliber 30-255PS -- roughly 1.5x larger and 2x stronger than its predecessor, with a 65h PR and two barrels (mainly for aesthetic reasons).
Here's for you a picture cased in the G version (I also replaced the main one with one in HD). Cheers ;-) ...
"Two barrels mainly for esthetic reasons"?
I don't know of a high power reserve single barrel watch from Patek. Maybe I have forgotten a model?
Yeah thatās sounds like marketing.
If they upsized the movement to better balance the size of the watch with the movement ( something PP has been a little guilty in the past of doing š) and made no other improvements, I would think theyād get criticism for taking so long to do that. It mak...
I loved
everything on the 6119G! Gorgeous dial, hands, bezel and movement, all packed in ātheā perfect case size for this type of watch.
I'd be interested to hear from Patek why they opted for a design with 2 extra wheels in the going train. Seems like an odd compromise, considering...
...the extent to which each additional wheel decreases efficiency. Perhaps a moderator could ask? That said, I got half of what I asked for in my post from May 23, 2018 when I asked for a "new manually wound caliber with overcoil, that can fill a 38mm cas...
Every interior angle, rounded off...
Haute de gamme? More like haute comƩdie. This is Patek, with Patek pricing, they really should do better when it comes to finishing.
To be fair the vc 4400 doesnāt have pointed interior angles at this price point?
Edit: Actually the 4400 does seem better in this regard.
As you say the 4400 does better and, unlike the Patek, has hand finishing.
There is a shallow internal angle as well.
As you said, the VC is superior when it comes to finishing
both by practical measures (eg. interior angels) and "emotional" measures (the amount of hand finishing). A key differentiator is that I fully believe VC sees Patek and a worthy competitor. Patek, on the other hand, looks down its nose at VC. That arrogan...
If you feel apprehensive about the hobnail: the 6159 will be your watch.
I love them on the 5119 but on this one not, that much.
I love the movement, fantastic architecture and good technological improvements. I owned a hobnail bezel Calatrava and never bonded with that style...
if this new movement goes into a new 5196, which I've also owned, who knows, I might try one again.
Very interesting looking movement.
I canāt wait to see more this. Itās usually worth paying attention when Patek launch a new movement as their R&D is oftentimes very thorough. Are the bridges stylistically unusual for PP?
I think they are meant to echo classic Patek movements
Look at some curved cocks, from 1915--a good year for cocks... ...
I love the movement!
The design, the finishing and even the size but I wish they made the watch in 37 or 37.5mm. It is possible with a 31mm movement and a thin bezel. I feel the dial is quite ordinary and could be improved with Breguet hands and numerals or even Roman numeral...
i think the hobnail and bauhaus elements are likely incongruent
- the 5119 was cohesive and the 5196 is as well. Maybe the point is that this is pure patek calatrava and that the design purity isn't important anymore - my 11 year old thought the rose version looked very "old" She'd like me to get her the new steel ann...
See Iām the opposite.
I think it works when the lugs curve into the case. Some of the older calatrava that have lugs that just terminate directly into the case and have a hobnail, look ok, but the hobnail takes up all the visual. When there is more polished case around the hob...
Waiting for a new '"5196" in G or P equipped with this new movement.
It has been a long long wait. Although I still prefer the bridge shapes of the old small 215, this one at least is bigger and the second hand on the dial won't look too out of place. Hope more nice references will follow in the coming decade.
