5970P Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph

The 5970 is aging with same sort of dignity the 3970 is currently enjoying. In due time, this pair might come to represent as great a complication as Patek Philippe have ever created.  You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again, this is the last of the Lemania ébauches; 5270 that followed axed that tradition. Further, the 1mm case different is not insignificant either. The 5970 was only in production for about 6 years, from 2004 until 2010. That’s considerably shorter than the 3970 which preceded it (’86-04) and the 5270 that took over (’11-now). It’s beginning to come into its own, and we’re here to celebrate it.

The big difference here is a 40mm case intro, compared to the neo-vintage darling 3970’s 36mm. And this is where the 5970 falters just slightly, as many collectors are instantly turned off by a calibre that is not sized properly to its case; this is the same 27-70 Q that’s in the 3970. That extra size was used to impart a tachymetre, which does underscore the chronograph in PCC. As the 3970 was already an icon in the early 2000s, the team took 3 years to realize its final design. Where normally that timeline is 6 months. Further, they are said to have tried around 20 dial designs before settling here, with this very legible slightly intersecting 6 area, which is more elegant than ‘the chin’. The case is equally considered, with lugs that are half Vichet 2499, half 1578 Spider Lug, a sprinkling of 2431 Flame Lugs, and none of the fussy midcase sectioning. The case alone is a greatest hits album. That little accentuated spider-lug kick does add a ton, and makes the lug appear to wrap better. It took over a year to figure out how to finish this lug without losing sharpness. What the design lost in simplicity and grace was compensated for with character and clear thinking.

Compared to every prior Perpetual Calendar Chronograph (PCC) ref., the 5970 was the first to see meaningful production numbers of the black dial platinum case. This specification arrived in the fourth series of dial in volume, often referred to as an end of the run celebration. Interestingly the usual production of metals was reversed. Yellow gold is the rarest 5970 metal, estimated just 100-300 examples and offered just a year or two at the end. That’s followed by the similarly run-out platinum, with an estimated 300-500 examples. Then come the main variants that launched in ’04, white and pink gold, each at an estimated 1000-1200 examples. Prices have been steadily above 200K US for some time now, with platinum leading the way. It remains to be seen if this is just the beginning for the most charming 40mm PCC or if we’re already fully saturated on Lemanias. Either way, this is the PCC of the new era. The real question is, ‘Are there collectors who got into watches dreaming of a 5970 instead of a 3970?’ Thanks to Mayer, I suspect there probably are. And I suspect they’re probably just about to come online as real buyers over the next decade too. We’ll end with some sacrilege, then. It’s the Zenith Daytona of PCCs, and that’s no bad thing.

This is one of those few examples that can genuinely be said to have been sleeping in a safe for almost all its life and it shows. It comes with the full works and the second solid caseback, which was already standard by this time, from a well-regarded Genevan retailer.