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

[Michigan Planner]

Just received the new Rolex Daytona as an early wedding gift from my fiancee
I had to do the legwork and find it ... she wrote the check
It's my first Rolex ... but hopefully not the last

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That's a generous fiance you have! My wife offered to buy me a watch as a wedding gift but I said, "No, thank you" and have regretted it since then. I wonder if that offer still stands 10 years later?

 

[Winot]

Foo, I think that you are picking a false argument here. Perhaps I've missed something but, as Mimo points out, the criticism of PP stems more from using Arial font on dials, from poor dial design, from putting a smaller movement into a larger case and so on, rather than from the PP's finishing of its movements. In fact, I can't remember anyone in this thread criticising PP for the finishing of its movements...

Warning: DO NOT GO DOWN THE FOO RABBIT HOLE

 

[benf]

Re: Patek, design, and newer models.

I prefer the older models, personally.

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Your 3970 is 36mm of perfection.

I think it's telling that the 3970 and the current 5270 is selling for almost identical prices on the secondary market. Ditto for the 3940/5140.

 

[Mr. Moo]

So many horror stories of bad/terrible Patek service...

 

[XKxRome0ox]

That's a generous fiance you have! My wife offered to buy me a watch as a wedding gift but I said, "No, thank you" and have regretted it since then. I wonder if that offer still stands 10 years later?

Well, I did get her one heck of an engagement ring ...

It can't hurt to ask, can it?
Good luck

 

[Dino944]

Just received the new Rolex Daytona as an early wedding gift from my fiancee
I had to do the legwork and find it ... she wrote the check
It's my first Rolex ... but hopefully not the last

View attachment 815269

Congrats on your engagement (and your pending marriage) and of course on the watch!!! My wife got me an Explorer II as a wedding gift, and there are lots of memories attached to that watch. Wishing you many years of happiness with the watch and your future bride!

Lets talk watches. I'm game if you all are.

Been reading old discussion threads across the internet relating to finishing and consequently feel the urge to slam face through wall. I am now certain that Philippe Dufour is an evil Swiss troll beset on the internet watch enthusiast comunity to spread odoriferous, hysteric, myopia. Kudos to the practicioner of the dark arts who can hand-chamfer the most flawless bevels over the most challenging inward angles. But you know what? Patek and the like do the same **** pretty good too. Not god-level good, but good enough to be enviable. Does Lange do even a little better? Maybe the bevels are sharper and the stripes are even more clearly define. But then you are stuck looking at a 3/4 plate most of the time. Where the **** is the fun of that? Germans.

Point is, it is blatant forum groupthink that targets Patek for bashing. I think they do more right than wrong, and when they are right, they put out some of the most sublime watches ever made.

Now, you may not like Patek for a bunch of other reasons which could be perfectly valid. But come one--finishng is "not good" anymore? This is like rejecting a world renowned tailor because his pick stitch is nice enough but you've seen even better.

Watchmakers have to make compromises with limited time and resources. For example, FP Journe follows a calculated strategy of de-emphazing finishing in order to invest more in movement design and development--which, by the way, happens to fall in-line with an older watchmaker you may have heard of by the name of Breguet. Breguet watches are, rightfully, some of the most revered of all time--and yet the finishing is meh at best. The man was after innovation more than anything else.

The nice thing about a big shop like Patek or Lange is that they have so many resources to bear. They may not ever reach Dufour levels of finishing, buy they manage to be pretty damned good along all measures.

I think if you're critiquing a Patek because the finishing of its movement is not quite as fine as a Lange under 10x magnification, the cheese has fallen off your cracker and you've stopped loving watches the way they deserve. Like women. We may want to stare only at their **** and then compare to other nicer **** we saw elsewhere, but then you get no ****, and ultimately no beautiful woman. It's okay to like ****, but remember the rest counts too.

People have talked about Lange having better finishing than most Pateks for many years, so that's nothing new. Yes, Dufour and some independents produce movements with finishing we will never see on most offerings from Patek, AP, or VC. However, those have never really been factors in my feelings about Patek. Overall its a great brand, its movements are still well finished, and knowing that a Lange or a Dufour has nicer finishing than most other brands doesn't diminish the enjoyment I get from wearing "Lesser watches" from companies like VC, AP, Rolex, and Cartier...so it wouldn't affect the enjoyment I would have from wearing a Patek.

For me the main issue has been that most of Patek's designs just don't speak to me. I find many are just too stodgy. I often feel like a many of their designs are for someone 15+ years older than however old I am at the time. Who knows, maybe I'm just not mature enough to own one The few that I really do like are often too far beyond my budget to seriously consider.

 

[Texasmade]

My main issue with PP is the artificially limiting of the SS models, the Nautilus and Aquanaut. I'm not going to jump into the brand spending $40k+ on a first PP watch. I'd rather get a 5711 and then work my up instead of working my way down.

 

[JohnAndrew]

From a couple days ago.

Great looking Tudor!

 

[tim_horton]

For me the main issue has been that most of Patek's designs just don't speak to me. I find many are just too stodgy. I often feel like a many of their designs are for someone 15+ years older than however old I am at the time. Who knows, maybe I'm just not mature enough to own one The few that I really do like are often too far beyond my budget to seriously consider.

Patek's stodginess is part of its appeal to me, at least in their Calatrava line. In fact, I don't think they're stodgy enough. I'd love to have a 5296, which would be a perfect dress watch... if it were 35mm. If Patek released a watch that was identical to the 570, I'd be all over it. These are personal opinions, of course.

In regards to their complications, I do agree that in a lot of cases that design-wise they're not as solid as they were. The 3940 is just flat-out better than any of their current three-dial PCs. Smaller, more elegant, richer font... The 5320 has the excellent PC layout of the 3448 (my personal favorite) with apertures for month and day, subdial for date, but it's a mess in comparison. Why not reissue a modern 3448? It's hard to improve on perfection. The 5905 doesn't compare to the 5960. And so on.

As for finishing, I think PP is just as nice as anyone else, but I'm not going over my one Patek with high-powered loupes so maybe I'm not being critical enough.

 

[double00]

... if it were 35mm.

what are you 80? 43mm is the starting point of men's watch sizing. this is known.

***

fantasy watch complication: a perpetual tidal calendar. no idear what this would even look like but it would be sweet.

 

[Mr Tewkesbury]

Point of interest: what is the collective wisdom on the 5960?
Could you direct me to a reputable comparative study (simply with any considered compition) or reputable unbiased review. Find the latter very difficult to find.

Regards.

 

[TheWraith]

43mm is the starting point? Heck no. Can't stand stupid looking jumbo watches. No thanks, not for me.

 

[no frills]

I will make exceptions for very large timepieces.

If it's the Caliber 89.

A background from Jack Forster about a year ago:

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/a-patek-philippe-caliber-89-for-sale-at-christies-new-york

 

[double00]

43mm is the starting point? Heck no. Can't stand stupid looking jumbo watches. No thanks, not for me.

was a tone deaf joke. the surf complication is not tho!

 

[tim_horton]

Point of interest: what is the collective wisdom on the 5960?
Could you direct me to a reputable comparative study (simply with any considered compition) or reputable unbiased review. Find the latter very difficult to find.

Regards.

One of my favorite Pateks, especially when the dial is monochromatic (5960-016P, 5960 Russian limited edition, 5960R-10, 5960R-011.) I like the look more than the perpetual calendar chronographs, actually, even though that is blasphemy. The three aperture windows for the calendar and the monocounter for the chronograph is just so clean and pure. It's a modern classic. And I don't even have a thing for chronographs usually.