Classic Eye for the Modern Guy: Patek Philippe Calatrava Ref. 5196 Swiss Movement Imitation Watches

The Patek Philippe mens calatrava ref. 5119g replica watches Calatrava: a series so often thought of as the peak of luxury, it has become the modern-day”Grail watch” for numerous lovers, of both vintage and modern watches. Famed originally for its own simplicity, creativity, and timelessness of design, the Calatrava series set from the beginning to adhere to the German Bauhaus school of design, which interrupts the tenets of minimalism and performance.

Now , as much as the Calatrava series maintains an esteemed standing at the world of horology. Although we now know it through many different references, we’ll be focusing our”Vintage Eye” on the Ref. 5196 (examples below), a modern re-interpretation of the first design.

Offered in white or platinum, yellow or rose gold, this 37-mm, manually wound watch strongly resembles the 31-mm bit from the early 1930s. With its sleek case, understated signed crown, and flat bezel, the watch is relatively thin and meant to slide easily beneath a top cuff. On the dial is a marginally textured, silvered background for the applied gold, tick hour markers, a summary of an employed gold outer minute ring, and a minimalist, small seconds sub-dial toward the 6 o’clock position. Prices at most traders for this piece begin about $18,000.

With its own applied, understated hour markers, dauphine hands, subdial, and slender case — the modern bit wouldn’t have any problem possibly passing itself off as a vintage timepiece. Also, among the qualities that brings much praise here is your 5196’s strong, polished caseback. Most manufacturers of modern, luxury watches now, choose to show off the watch’s richly decorated motion through a transparent caseback, but together with the 5196, Patek chosen instead opted to follow its Bauhaus heritage and genuinely enable form to follow function, as many are inclined to state.

The 5196, being a re-interpretation and not a re-creation, also has a couple of noteworthy changes in the predecessor. The most apparent one is that the 6-mm increase in the case dimensions, but you may also notice the overall better ending and more sleekness in the modern opinion: the crown is slimmer and tighter to the case, and there’s a more complicated use of both polished and brushed metal finishes when compared with the original, which was mostly polished. A few other changes include the textured dial, the minimalist subdial, and the applied outer minute ring — all features not present on the initial illustrations of Reference 96.

Since roughly the early 1980s, vintage watches have continued to attract more, and more enthusiastic, interest from a wider variety of consumers. The Patek Philippe nautilus calatrava ref. 5196 fake watch new, and especially the Calatrava series, was at the center of much of this attention. Because of this, nearly all Pateks are regarded as highly collectible pieces, and even comparatively basic time-only watches, like this modern Calatrava Ref. 5196, command relatively high rates, with many believing they have the potential to actually increase in value with time.

Since beginning at Theo & Harris, he’s garnered extensive knowledge on vintage watches, and spends much of his time sharing his opinions within the area. Currently located near nyc, he is a persistent pupil in all things historic, a writer on watches, and a casual runner.