Dear friends,
Today I am taking the time to have a mini review of my acquisition, the Patek Philippe Calatrava 5119J-001
Let me start the review with a short profile. I'm not the biggest watch collector in life. I only got my first Swiss Made watch in the last five years. I am fortunate enough to be able to enjoy my humble job and fuel my mini passion / hobby of watches.
A Patek to some, may be the summit of Mount Everest (of watches). To me, it brings me deeper to this relationship we have with watches. I have also been able to have a few other watches from Omega, Rolex and Jaeger-LeCoultre. I spent a lot of research on this one. I would like to thank some of you on your opinions along the way. I sincerely wish you all find your way to your dream grail watch. I would like to think, I may have found my piece (or peace) pun intended.
It honestly had come down to two different models at first. Genta's legendary Nautilus and the Calatrava. The Calatrava was introduced in 1932 inspired by the Bauhaus (an art school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts). However, it was really the guilloché “Clous de Paris” bezel that blew me away (other than the movement of course).
- Mechanical manually wound movement
- Caliber 215 PS
- Water resistant to 30 m (oh please don’t venture this at home…)
- Case diameter: 36 mm
- White lacquered dial
- Yellow gold
The Calatrava is seen as an almost perfect “dress watch”. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Reverso too. Some of the Calatrava characteristics, small dial (hidden under our cuffs). Very understated look – I was leaning towards the 5120 at one time, but finally chose this. But truly, the hobnail is a work of art.
The leather strap is glossed and very dressy. The good news is, Patek doesn’t charge an arm and a leg for accessories. A replacement strap would be below SGD500. The pin buckle is traditional and functions as it should, with ease. Crocodile hand-sewn leather of course.
The dial is also glossy, clear white lacquer. It looks so simple, it doesn’t distract. Very pleasant, yet not ostentatious. If you appreciate the enamel dial on this model, you can only get it with the 5116 R in Rose Gold. And slightly more pricey due to that art of drawing. Otherwise, it looks the same on surface. It is covered by a nice domed sapphire crystal. The sub-seconds fit perfect just above 6pm. The 5120 would have been too plain. Also, the 1 mm difference is not negligible. If you put them side by side, you may appreciate the 36 mm eventually.
The 215 PS movement. You can read some detail here -
https://www.patek.com/en/215
But Glorious. Along with the Patek Philippe Seal. I guess the appreciation of most of the money goes here - which is only 21.9mm, by the way. I wind it every morning. Very little times, maybe 10 rounds. It keeps time well. It’s not “noisy” at all, I can hardly hear it in truth. There is no crown protection but it easy to locate and easy to wind.
I understand that servicing costs are also below SGD1,000 for this model. This is always my consideration when buying a new time piece.
Some photos of the box and contents.
These are really my final thoughts:
The case is beautiful in yellow gold (you can also go with rose or white gold). I think it goes well with my skin tone. The watch looks nice on my wrist and is comfortable.
Would I recommend it to you all? Yes, of course. It would be an exquisite heirloom to pass down to the next generation (we’re really looking it after for them)
It’s beautiful, in short. Hope you enjoyed the above and appreciate any comments. Wishing you all a nice weekend
