5726A Patek Philippe Annual Calendar

Complicated and Nautilus haven’t really been dating long. In fact, we didn’t see a complicated calendar Nautilus until 2010, a good 26 years after AP made the 5554: this 5726. It wasn’t even a QP. It was, true to Patek Philippe form, an annual calendar. And in-line? It really makes little to no sense, not just the delayed evolution but the unusual (yet very Patek Philippe) layout chosen. While unusual, it is handsome and perfectly symmetrical. The dial works. Unlike, well, let’s not go there.

In all the Nautilus craze that’s come and gone like the tide, it is easy to forget that some of them are actually attractive. I really adore annual calendars, because they’re actually not that much easier to make than a full QP and were invented (by Patek in 96) to make complication more accessible. But the 5035 and 5205 are a little busy. It’s really only the advent of the 2006 5396 that made it beautiful with in-line displays. And that made a complicated Aquanaut not only possible, but symmetrical. Where all prior calendars like the 5712 are haphazardly unsymmetrical, the 5729 found harmony. And it’s a nod to the 3448, which it is illegal to not love.

The 5726 has been replaced by the 5740. It is precisely in the timeframe where it is out of most collector’s mind. It’s been superseded directly and the trend that it was a part of has cooled. It’s no longer the king, the Chrono24 price graph looks like you could go skiing on it. This timeframe is very predictably when I start to honestly evaluate if I find watches attractive or not. And, whether I’m right or wrong, I find the 5726 works on aesthetic level. Plus, it is a complication that really only makes sense to be executed inside of Patek Philippe, where the full QP almost feels like they’re still playing catch up. Long live the in-line complicated calendar, Nautilus form or not.

This example appears to be in strong overall condition, which is to be expected; it's not that old. But the top-side brushing is strong, the edges look great, and the dial is unmarred. It comes on a factory blue strap with green contrast stitch, which I can do without. But the original straps are still present, with the full kit, so not to worry. It comes from a well-regarded London retailer.