5070P Patek Philippe Chronograph

The 5070 is a very significant reference to Patek Philippe. It marks success, even excess, and the triumphant return of the humble chronograph. You see, chronograph production through the later part of the last century was anything but continuous at Patek Philippe. It went 1463 from the early 1940s until late 60s. Then, well, nothing. Nothing at all for four decades, no humble chronograph was made. The 5070 returned with a Lemania ébauche in 1998. And it wasn’t subtle, this was what Patek Philippe envisioned the ultimate manual chronograph to be in the late 90s. And they weren’t far off.

The 5070 was the first chronograph to tip over 40mm, inspired by the 1950s ‘Jumbo’-case, split seconds ref. 2512. Stepped lugs and a stepped bezel reinforce the vintage aesthetic, but with modern proportions. It’s a Lemania 2310 dressed to the nines, wearing a Geneva Seal, blue, and platinum. I’ve begun terming this time ‘Pre-Thierry’, some of Patek’s greatest years in the twilight of what the brand was built upon, or more accurately the tenure of Philippe Stern. The dial is highly legible with Arabics everywhere, cut by drastically oversized subdials. And feuille hands are not out of place. But for once, the color here is more interesting than the design.

The 5070 was first released in yellow gold, black dial, from 1998-02. Then pink from 2003-07 with a white dial. Then white from 2003-07. But this, the platinum, was just made for one year with a blue dial: 2008. It was a decade after the debut. Then, this look became double-special as, to all intents and purposes, the Saatchi 5070 shares this exact same palette. Outside of the uber-rarities like salmon, this is the one to have. Some say there’s one steel case out there as well. Patek stated that they limited production to 250 examples per metal per year. Excluding one-offs and Saatchi, that’s 3250 examples of standard production. That’s not a lot for a whole decade-long reference.

The context is interesting as well. The 5070 was well behind the re-introduction of the VC chronograph, the 1989 ref. 47101. Both share a similar revisionist history attitude. One year after the 5070, a new approach was tried with the reveal of the Datograph. AP were mostly invested in the Offshore and Huitième chronographs at the time, having tried the 25563 in 1981 to little success, they divested. This was the anti-Patek of its time. Not unchanging, but changing direction of the brand totally. Sometimes you have to shake things up to move forward.

The examples pictured here are not of the actual example that's come to market, follow the link below for that. Special thank you to ACM and Phillips for the images here. But the example in question looks great, hallmarks and engravings. It comes with its complete kit from a well-regarded London retailer.