First appearing in the market in the late 1940s, the very first perpetual calendar wristwatch was manufactured by Patek Philippe via the ref. 1518. Since then, the manufacture has continued to innovate and integrate the perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch. In 1996, Patek Philippe introduced the ref. 5004 featuring for the first time a split seconds chronograph along with its perpetual calendar complication. Extremely well received, the ref. 5004 is arguably one of the most well-executed contemporary Patek Philippe timepieces, powered by the desirable Lemania-based cal. CH 27-70 Q.

In 2012, Patek Philippe introduced another milestone timepiece replacing the former coveted ref. 5004. The new ref. 5204 featured important upgrades such as Patek Philippe’s first in-house perpetual calendar split seconds chronograph caliber CHR 29-535 PS Q as well as adopting a new and enlarged case measuring 40mm. While the idea of the dial remains very similar, minor alignment adjustments were made for the registers providing the wearer greater legibility of the dial and indications. Furthermore, the moon phases have been placed “upside down”. The indexes have been upgraded to baton instead of the previous applied Arabic numerals. Initially launched in platinum for the first four years of the release, the pink gold variant was launched in 2016, with a clean silvery white dial.