A perpetual calendar is like a small computer on your wrist.
Think of it this way: Imagine a watch that keeps track of not only the time, but also the date, the day of the week, and the month, and also tells you whether it’s a leap year or not, and what the current phase of the moon is. Oh, and one more thing — imagine it does all of this mechanically, using springs and gears, and that you only have to adjust it once every century or so. Crazy, right?
Perpetual calendars are Patek Philippe’s specialty — the maison been making them in series since the 1940s. This particular quantieme perpetual, a Reference 5139G, is indeed a rare breed.
Housed in a nearly perfect 38mm 18K white gold case, this piece features straight lugs, a hobnail bezel, a sapphire crystal and a signed, recessed crown. For high complication timepieces, its expected to see a thicker case to accommodate the additional mechanical accoutrements. However this piece, shockingly comes in at a svelte 9.5mm in case thickness. Combined with a lug-to-lug measurement of 45mm, this piece wears incredibly well on a wide range of wrist sizes.
Elegant, and just plain beautiful, the gloss black dial plays host to a month subsidiary register with a leap year indicator at 3 o'clock, a day subsidiary register with a 24-hour indicator at 9 o'clock and a slightly larger pointer date subsidiary register with a moonphase display at 6 o'clock.
Like we said — beautiful.
This piece is powered by a 240 Q microrotor movement adorned with Côtes de Genève, which thankfully is viewable by a sapphire exhibition caseback. What's more, this piece includes its Certificate of Origin confirming is date of production in 2012.
This Patek Philippe Grand Complication has made many instant fans of the Reference 5139 here at HQ. It truly is a perfect blend of everyday wearability and the exact details that makes Patek Philippe, Patek Philippe.
It's absolutely a piece of horological art — the type of timepiece that gets passed down through the generations.