The Patek Philippe Diamond 5961P Annual Calendar Flyback Chronongraph
Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Chronograph 5961P-001
Something a little special not to mention rare for the good people of Jardin Du Mayfair today.
This is the drop-dead gorgeous Patek 5961P.
It’s an annual calendar flyback chronograph kitted out with a platinum case, diamond bezel, diamond markers, diamond clasp, and the signature top Wessleton diamond nestled between the lugs at 6.
Apparently this single diamond is a subtle note to the wearer that they’ve got a lump of platinum on the wrist. While we’re always grateful for that little love-letter to precious metal - the Wessleton is beautifully overwhelmed by baguettery in this instance.
There are 36 invisibly set baguette diamonds surrounding the dial.
22 surrounding the Maltese Cross clasp
8 baguettes and two brilliants adorning the dial.
You want diamonds? You’ve got diamonds, but in this instance - they are actually remarkably in keeping with the watch and due to the lower levels of flash and sparkle associated with baguettes, they are remarkably tasteful and in keeping with the watch.
Plus, who doesn’t want stones protecting their bezels from scuffs and scratches?
The case on this one is fully polished platinum with tactile rounded edges and a stepped bezel.
It wears like a very pleasing chunk at 40.5mm, 13.9mm thick, 49mm lug to lug with a strap width of 21mm which makes it a bit of a pest for strap changes, however the bolstered navy gloss aligator strap is exceptionally comfortable and lined with calf leather.
That said, prepare to spit your coffee out and declare that I’ve lost the plot and need a holiday, but this watch looks absolutely IMMENSE when paired with a white sailcloth strap.
Really tones down the formality of it all, and genuinely, the blue dial and diamonds paired with white is the casual summer combo of the year.
Speaking of the dial, it is a really beautiful matte blue tone with no sunburst, no frills, and it serves as an excellent backdrop to both the baguettes and the crisp white text plus day/date/month windows.
Blue and white really is a freah and clean combination for this one which is always a plus when dealing with dials that risk being busy due to complications.
This one has the annual calendar details at the top, with a subtle power reserve indicator sitting just beneath the date, and at the bottom uses a monocounter (single subdial) to deal with both the minutes and the hours of the flyback chronograph.
There’s a circular cut-out within the subdial which shows either white or blue - white for day, blue for night, so keep an eye on this when setting the annual calendar which is done by using the pushers on the left hand side of the case.
There are no running seconds on this watch, but as the movement uses both a vertical clutch and a column wheel - if you wanted, you could set the watch dead to the minute, start the chronograph, and use it as a constant running seconds hand without affecting the power reserve of the piece. Job done, although I prefer to leave the chrono hand at 12 for the sake of “less is more”
The dial indexes are largely baguette diamonds, with two brilliants marking 5 and 7 which has been done to compensate for the space used by the chrono complication, its a well executed and tidy way of keeping the dial layout clear with no awkward cramping.
Well lumed leaf hands deal with the timekeeping, and the chrono hand is finished in white.
The movement is Pateks automatic calibre CH28-520 IRM QA 12H and is an all singing and dancing 40 jewel movement with gyromax, spiromax, pepsimax, and all the associated maxes which result in a 55 hour power reserve and timekeeping which ranges from a very acceptable minus 3 to plus 2 seconds per day.
In closing, hand on heart this watch is an absolute beauty.
The diamonds elevate the design rather than impede it, they aren’t particularly in your face, and they just work so so well with the cool pallete of the dial and indexes.
On aligator it’s perfectly at home in the boardroom but stick this thing on sailcloth and its comfortably swilling mojitos in shorts.
Do anything, go anywhere, just don’t swim in it as its rated to 30m.
It really wasn’t on my radar until I laid eyes and hands on it, and its gone straight to the top of my watch collecting bucket list.
I love it, and I hope you do too.