The Watch Appreciation Thread - Part two (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger LeCoultre,

[Jr Mouse]

@TheFoo

What’s the turn around time for the FooTank?

 

[NakedYoga]

FooTank finalized.

- Tank Louis Cartier base
- Platinum case
- Ruby cabochon crown
- 5N rose gold dial with black printed Roman numerals and railroad minute track
- Breguet-style hands in black oxidized steel

View attachment 1773420

Only $33K. Yikes.

The key decisions that I kept going back and forth on were the dial and hands treatment. For the dial, you can achieve a salmon tone either by galvanizing a metal dial into Cartier’s designated “salmon” color or by making the dial out of solid rose gold. I don’t like Cartier’s official salmon color (it’s too yellow) and vintage salmon dials were simply made of rose gold. So, I went the puristic path and chose a rose gold dial.

For the hands, I waffled between blued steel and black oxidized steel. Ultimately, I decided the blue would look too anomalous since the cabochon cannot be sapphire on a platinum watch. Also, black hands puts more emphasis on the color of the dial, which is the real star of the show.

Photoshopping another Cartier watch with a rose gold dial gives some indication of how the colors will look:

View attachment 1773431

Fingers crossed.

Quite pricy, although I have nothing to compare it to. I expect it will look awesome, though. Hope you post some real photos.

 

[am55]

What exactly is it about these watches that strikes you as “old Patek”?

The lugs on the perpetual calendar look terrible.

Well for example the world timer case is closer to the Louis Cottier original:

than Patek's recent line-up:

I also prefer the hands but might be in a minority there. I think the minutes hand on the Patek WTs is too short and too fat for its companion.

Philosophically I knew you wouldn't like Andersen. He's a bit quiet on where the movements come from or who is building the watches today, and they're a tad thicker and less carefully finished in photographs. I've never handled one in person given their rarity so defer to those who might have (I think GS in particular photographs much better than it exists). I personally like the restrained modernisation and customisation work. I know the WT is about that enamel dial but a regular guilloched or textured pattern is just much lighter on the eye and matches the complexity of the city names. I also like that Andersen lets you pick your cities. The Patek selection is quite outdated, in a dated (USSR, Japan focus) rather than "cool vintage" fashion (as the early WTs might be with their Ye Olde Ouesterne Empyres spelling and city selection, or Patek's French spellings and odd choices in the 1937 below, including the Brazilian state of Pernambuco and Mauritius).

 

[am55]

Also Andersen did this: https://watchworld.co.in/perpetual-secular-calendar-the-worlds-most-complicated-watch/

 

[dopey]

Almost *****.
Things that *****: dial colors, case size of 40.5mm, case thickness of 13mm, flat link bracelet that tapers, micro adjustable clasp, broad arrow hands, and vintage straight lug case

Things that don't *****: 2 dial layout and date window

The 2 don't ***** outweigh all the ***** for me so it's a pass.

This is incorrect

 

[Newcomer]

Syringe hands on the new Pateks are great and consistent with various vintage models. Yes, they make the watches look a touch sportier (as do the applied Arabic numerals), but that is also consistent with what Patek has done in the past.

I was very on the fence with the ivory-dialed 5320G, but think the new salmon-dialed version is flat-out gorgeous. I’ve asked my AD about one.

The salmon-dialed 5172G is also quite a looker, and much more appealing to me than the prior blue-dialed version, though I still prefer my 5170G overall. Just depends on the style you prefer. Both are extremely well-executed and classic in their own ways.

The salmon-dialed 5320G is, indeed, gorgeous.

My only qualm with the 5230G is the use of the 324 movement with the PC module on top. I like the center seconds, but the 324 movement is kind of dated for the price. I know you don't care, but low PR, non-hacking, and the same movement in watches $70,000 less expensive.

That said, again, it is a gorgeous watch and a top 3-4 in the catalogue for me (well, top 3 under, say, $125,000). It is perfectly balanced and has a ton of character. The prior 5320G lost out to the 5205G, but I don't think I'd make the same decision with this new iteration.

The 5172G, I could go either way on the salmon/blue. I thought both looked nice, although I feel the 5172 and 5320 would be redundant in one collection, and the 5320, to me, is a better size with a more useful complication.

We will have to agree to disagree with the 5226/5236 - although I can tell that they are not your speed. Nonetheless, I think it is pretty clear what Patek is doing - trying to create some non-sport watches that appeal to a younger generation. And I guess, at the end of the day, I appreciate that Patek is making an effort and taking risks. AP sure as hell is not doing that. So, I ***** from time to time, and I do think they are ludicrously expensive, but the hobby is better when the big brands try something new.

 

[Kappelan]

I'd like the BB Pro more if it didn't have the riveted bracelet but other than that, it's a great size, well made, has a good movement, 70 hr PR, good WR but derivative design. Not a terrible thing IMO. Wouldn't say it FOO-cks but I like it.

I did a preorder with my dealer on the new BB Pro on a bracelet. Love the design and the case size, a bit concerned about the thickness only. Can't wait to see it in person. I think it would go fine with my other Tudors.

 

[Newcomer]

Also, someone on Hodinkee pointed this out:

That something is... seriously off about the 6 on the 5172.

But then I noticed, check out the 9 on the 5320:

It kind of looks like the 9 on the 5320 was flipped for the 5172?

Just kind of an odd observation.

 

[NakedYoga]

My flamin' hot take on a few of the W&W novelties that caught my eye (take with a grain of salt, as I have never even touched a Patek or Lange, let alone countless of them):

Patek 5226G - Looks like a Baltic. Or a Longines, as someone else pointed out.

Tag Aquaracer Professional 1000 Superdiver - Tag x Omega Planet Ocean mash-up?

Oris Big Crown Pointer Date - I'm an Oris fan. I like their ProPilot series, and the simple design of the Big Crown Pointer Date as well, but I don't like the cathedral hands. This new version without cathedral hands, with small seconds and the new movement in a 39mm case is pretty attractive to me.

Rolex Air King - Ugly as ever, even with the new case.

Rolex GMT Master II - Is this being called the "Sprite" now? Seems like a Sprite would be green and white, or green and yellow...or would that be a Mello Yello? Anyway, I think an all-black bezel would have been better. Seems a bit uninspired, although the left handedness of it is interesting as a lefty.

Tudor - Meh. I wish they had a black no-date Pelagos, like the blue French Navy reference they released, with either style bezel.

Baume & Mercier Riviera 10702/10660 - Is it an Alpine Eagle copy? Dunno, but I love both references, even with the weird crown, semi-transparent dial, and titanium bezel depending on reference.

Parmigiani Tonda GT Chronograph (steel/black) - All things being equal, if I could have any current production chronograph, it would be this. I know this isn't a new release, but my pants get a little tighter every time I see one.

JLC Polaris Perpetual Calendar - This looks awesome. Not something I'd expect to like, but I really dig it. 42mm is pretty big, though.

 

[TheFoo]

@TheFoo

What’s the turn around time for the FooTank?

One year.

 

[Texasmade]

This is incorrect

2 subdial layout on a Speedmaster does not *****.

 

[Texasmade]

One year.

I'm assuming platinum bin buckle and not deployant for $33k.

 

[TheFoo]

I'm assuming platinum bin buckle and not deployant for $33k.

Correct. Deployant would be wrong on a Tank LC anyway.

 

[montecristo#2]

Also, someone on Hodinkee pointed this out:

View attachment 1773580

That something is... seriously off about the 6 on the 5172.

But then I noticed, check out the 9 on the 5320:

View attachment 1773581

It kind of looks like the 9 on the 5320 was flipped for the 5172?

Just kind of an odd observation.

The kind of sloppy shortcut taking we’ve come to expect from Patek.

 

[LA Guy]

FooTank finalized.

- Tank Louis Cartier base
- Platinum case
- Ruby cabochon crown
- 5N rose gold dial with black printed Roman numerals and railroad minute track
- Breguet-style hands in black oxidized steel

View attachment 1773420

Only $33K. Yikes.

The key decisions that I kept going back and forth on were the dial and hands treatment. For the dial, you can achieve a salmon tone either by galvanizing a metal dial into Cartier’s designated “salmon” color or by making the dial out of solid rose gold. I don’t like Cartier’s official salmon color (it’s too yellow) and vintage salmon dials were simply made of rose gold. So, I went the puristic path and chose a rose gold dial.

For the hands, I waffled between blued steel and black oxidized steel. Ultimately, I decided the blue would look too anomalous since the cabochon cannot be sapphire on a platinum watch. Also, black hands puts more emphasis on the color of the dial, which is the real star of the show.

Photoshopping another Cartier watch with a rose gold dial gives some indication of how the colors will look:

View attachment 1773431

Fingers crossed.

This watch will ****.

Before I just had my right finger tattooed, I had a platinum wedding band. I took it off only to lift, and just taped it up when doing pullups, so it had um... lessee 100 a day x 300 days a year for 5 years, so....~150 000 pullups on it, and when I went to the jeweler to get it resized, it had only deformed a bit. That metal is really heavy, but also about as tough as a precious metal gets. Stuff is expensive though. I think that for my size 11 fingers (bareknuckle boxer's/grappler's knuckles) cost $1.5 K in platinum alone in 2005.. What was the upcharge for that case? I haven't for a bit, but I think that my yellow gold Santos Dumont wa $13500 or thereabouts? It's been a few years though, and watch prices are getting a bit crazy.