PATEK PHILIPPE 5496P PLATINUM RETROGRADE AUTOMATIC PERPETUAL CALENDAR SEALED NEW

Please note: the watch being offered for sale is factory sealed new. We are supplementing this listing with file pictures so potential buyers may see what a 5496P looks like outside of the plastic. The new Patek Philippe model 5496P draws its lineage to the reference 5050 perpetual calendar. The 5050 was the first Patek Philippe pure perpetual calendar to break the $100,000 mark in the collectors’ market. The 5050 takes its cues from one of Patek’s all-time great watches, the reference 5016 tourbillon perpetual calendar automatic, which like the 5050 has sweep seconds. Given the 5016 – 5050 – 5496 nexus, this watch immediately takes its rightful place in rarified air of elite complicated Patek wristwatches. The reference 5496 is significant aesthetically, as its dial follows the same conventions as the 5016 and 5050. Namely, the dials of this trio all feature both classical elements, like the moonphase display and apertures for the calendar displays, and also playful elements like the retrograde date and the distribution of the day, month and leap year apertures. Significantly, these watches also have a center sweep seconds hand, which is a rarity in a complicated timepiece. Patek freshened the design for the 5496 by using exquisite dauphine hands, a larger and cleaner case and dial with applied indices, and red-tipped retrograde date hand. Case is solid platinum, with dimensions of 40mm diameter by 11.7mm thick. Bezel is quite broad as is the case back bezel. Front crystal is domed sapphire while the display back has a flat sapphire crystal. The platinum is mirror polished on all surfaces and the lugs taper inward. The case is massive and minimalist at the same time. Dial is silver with applied hour indices, retrograde date scale with red-tipped hand, apertures for day, month and leap year cycle and moonphase display. It is unusual for perpetual calendar watches to have a center seconds hand as the 5496 does. Hands are dauphine, which is a testimony to Patek’s earliest perpetual calendar watches. Embossed seconds/minutes scale at the dial’s edge. The caliber is the automatic winding Patek Philippe Caliber 324 S QR with 30 jewels, 9 bridges, 45 hour power reserve, beating at 28,800 beats per hour and comprised of 361 individual parts. Caliber is stamped with the prestigious new Patek Philippe Seal, which imposes even stricter quality standards than the Geneva Seal. Strap is new hand-sewn black Patek crocodile with a Patek platinum deployant clasp. Watch is new with box, papers, second solid case back, and setting stylus.