Simply Abu Dhabi XXVI

1 6 3 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I W hile the Basel fair celebrated its 100th event, one of its most prestigious exhibitors, Patek Philippe, presides over an uninterrupted legacy of 178 successful years in business. In 2017, the Aquanaut collection turned 20 with an anniversary model, while the ultra-thin self-winding calibre 240 movement can showcase its many facets with a number of timepieces presented on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. However, the star of the show was the new perpetual calendar watch with its wonderfully vintage aesthetic. Patek Philippe famously say in their enduring advertising campaign “You never actually own a Patek Philippe watch, you merely look after it for the next generation.” Well, the new Patek Philippe 5320G perpetual calendar is going to be enjoyed by a great many generations as it has been designed and constructed to last for eternity. It automatically indicates months with 28, 30, and 31 days and every four years also recognises 29 February as a leap day. In 1925, Patek Philippe launched model 97'975, the world's first wristwatch with a perpetual calendar. This was followed by further unique pieces until the manufacture integrated this type of watch into its regular collection. The 5320G is the evolution of this fine lineage of classic timepieces. The cream-coloured dial of the 5320G adopts a similar design layout to its predecessors, although it features new useful indications such as the small round day/night aperture between 7 and 8 o'clock and a round aperture for the leap year cycle with Arabic numerals from 1 to 4 between 4 and 5 o'clock. Applied gold Arabic numerals and five-minute cabochons with luminous coatings, fine-tipped baton hands filled with Super-LumiNova (a reminiscence of the Ref. 1463 chronograph from the 1950s), a slender counterbalanced sweep seconds hand and the crisply graduated seconds scale come together as a paragon of perfect legibility with a face of purist elegance that conceals the complexity of the mechanical movement beneath the dial. The watch is powered by the calibre 324 S Q – a refined version of the legendary self-winding movement 324 featuring a large central rotor in 21 karat gold that delivers remarkable winding power. The new cadrature of the perpetual calendar on the dial side has four additional disks for the aperture displays: day one rev/week, month one rev/year, leap year cycle one rev/eight years, and day/night one rev/day. The lunar disk behind the analogue date at 6 o'clock progresses with the precision of a modern Patek Philippe moon-phase display that requires a single-day correction every 122 years. This timeless watch will never be anything other than stylish, and it is housed in a proprietary 18-carat white-gold case. It seamlessly marries past and future, combining state-of-the- art technology in the movement with the vintage architecture of the dial. Each generation that his precious timepiece passes through will be lucky to own it while they do. Patek Philippe 5 3 2 0 G P e r p e t u a l C a l e n d a r