One of the reasons behind Patek Philippe’s success is the way they manage to scout their (extremely rich) heritage and reinterpret masterpieces of the past - or details of them - in light of the current fashion. Most often, furthermore, the final result is not a complete overturning of the original design, but rather a subtle and suave update.
The present watch perfectly exemplifies this philosophy.
Launched last spring, reference 5236 is the latest entry in the "pure" perpetual calendar line of timepieces, and it was received with enormous acclaim by both critics and collectors. Until today, Patek Philippe perpetual calendar would usually feature (with notable exceptions such as ref. 3940) two windows for the month and day of the week, and then either a window or a subsidiary counter - usually at 6 - for the date. Such scheme is present in the vintage pieces (1518, 2499, 2497 etc) as well as in most modern ones (5270, 5320, 5372...). With this timepiece, a completely different style of perpetual calendar indication is applied to a production wristwatch: the linear calendar. Extremely difficult to realize, a linear calendar not only offers cleaner overall aesthetics, but also highly simplifies the readability of the date: it is all neatly grouped in one line, as if one was reading the date on a mobile phone.
As mentioned before, this inspiration from this novel movement comes from a vintage timepiece, pocket reference 725/4 which features a similar indication (albeit in "American" style - month, date, day - rather than the present European style "day, date month"). The similarity between the two watches is however purely aesthetic, as the calendar module of ref. 5236 is completely new, a masterpiece of watchmaking featuring 118 additional parts compared the a "standard" perpetual calendar, and a number of technical solutions devised exclusively for this complication. This is the second time calibre 31-260 is employed by Patek, with its first appearance being on reference 5235. The version present in ref. 5236 is however highly modified, even without considering the perpetual calendar module, featuring an additional bridge and a platinum rotor; such modifications were necessary because of the high torque required for the calendar to work.
The case as well is inspired by vintage timepieces - ref. 3448 and 3450, specifically - and is based on the 40mm case of Regulateur reference 5235, in this case upgraded to 41mm.
The dial is a masterpiece of elegance, featuring a superb and subtle two-tone finish: bushed midnight blue center and an off-blue tone for the outer track with railway minute divisions (another a nod to mid-century watchmaking).
Offered by its original owner, full set an in absolutely untouched condition, this timepiece is an incredible opportunity to own one of the most fascinating and difficult to acquire contemporary complicated Patek Philippe timepieces.
