2019/20 JEWELS & TIME 19Watchmaking, as many will tell you, is an art
—an extremely precise form of craft. For the premier
watchmaking brands of the world, every part of each creation
that leaves the workshop counts—from the case to the bezel
and dial, right down to every bevelled angle and screw. This
pursuit of perfection is what drives many watchmaking
brands, including, of course, Patek Philippe. And it is this
same pursuit of perfection that makes the design of the new
Calatrava Weekly Calendar Ref 5212A-001 so surprising.
Patek Philippe’s expertise with calendar watches is
indisputable. Not only are its perpetual calendars highly
sought-after, the brand is also responsible for creating the
world’s fi rst annual calendar complication in 1996. As such,
the weekly calendar complication feels perfectly at home
among its fellow timekeeping brethren. The function of
a weekly calendar complication is simple—it indicates
the current week of the year. While the vast majority of
the world keeps track of time in a year by months, some
European and Asian countries commonly use weeks to
keep time for business purposes. Given that calendars on
smartphones usually do not display the week of the year, this
can actually be quite a useful complication for some.
The Ref 5212A-001 indicates the week using what
Patek Philippe calls a hammer-shaped hand, with the head
of the “hammer” coloured red for added
legibility and aesthetic enhancement. When
creating the watch, Patek Philippe used the
ISO 8601 standard, an international guideline
that applies to representations and formats
of dates in the Gregorian calendar—the one
most commonly used around the world.
Text Nicolette Wong
WRITING HISTORY
The Patek Philippe Calatrava Weekly Calendar Ref 5212A
gives a new dimension to the term “hand-fi nishing”
STAND OUT
The Patek
Philippe Calatrava
Weekly Calendar
Ref 5212A-001
is a rare Calatrava
with a twist—it is
the only stainless
steel watch in the
collection; the
brand-new calibre
26-330 S C J SE.
Opposite: Hand
work is a major
aspect of Patek’s
creations but the
Ref 5212A-001
takes it another
level upUnder the ISO 8601, all weeks begin on a Monday and the
fi rst week of the year is the one in which January 4 occurs.
And while we all know that a year contains 52 weeks, the
eagle-eyed watch buff will notice that the indications on
the Ref 5212A-001 go up to 53 weeks. It is true that some
years do indeed have 53 weeks—if the year starts on or
after a Thursday, or if it is a leap year starting on or after a
Wednesday. The next 53-week year will be the year 2020,
which means the new weekly calendar comes well in time for
its arrival.
The Ref 5212A-001 has a completely new self-winding
movement, the calibre 26-330 S C J SE, which is based
on the classic calibre 324 that sits within many of Patek
Philippe’s other calendar watches. The new calibre has a new
semi-integrated mechanism for the weekly calendar function.
In addition to the week, date, and day indication functions,
the movement also has a stop seconds mechanism that
allows for greater precision when the crown is pulled out for
time-setting, as well as an improved self-winding mechanism.
The most interesting part of the Ref 5212A-001, however,
is its design. According to some reports, it was inspired by
a one-of-a-kind extra large historical reference from 1955,