Patek Philippe, officer case, retrograde perpetual calendar, center seconds. Fancy names, fancy features, but rather under the radar watch. The 5059 (and 5050) is the first revival of the center seconds perpetual calendar after their production of 2497 (what a watch that is) now back as a retrograde perpetual calendar in an officer styled case. I am aware of lesser desire for officer cases, but I have always loved the design of the officer case. I love the story of officer cases with high ranked army officers owning hinged back style pocket watches and strap it on their wrist for utility usage (I love any watch stories that are military related), as well as this 5059 being a retrograde perpetual calendar which adds to the unusualness. This 5059 is like the adventurous younger brother that decided to not take the traditional family pathway and follow his own path.
When looking at this 5059, there are 2 disguisable features; the movement, and the case. First, the movement. This being a retrograde perpetual calendar, meaning that it features a different caliber to other perpetual calendars from the same era from Patek Philippe. The engine behind the watch is this beautifully finished caliber 315 S QR automatic perpetual calendar which features a full 21K gold rotor rather than a micro rotor on a 240Q movement. Full rotor means a thicker movement, and yes it is slightly thicker, but the thickness of the watch is not affected by the movement. This 5059’s main highlight is the feature of an officer style case, meaning it has screwed lugs, and a hinged caseback to open up and see the beautiful caliber 315 S QR. These uniquely shaped 5059 cases were made by Guillod and Cie (Guillod Gunther SA), a casemaker located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, who also produced the legendary 5004 perpetual calendar split second chronograph during the similar time. As mentioned above, Patek's inspiration for this officer case came from hinged pocket watches wrapped on the wrist, and decided to produce the hinged pocket watch style into an actual wristwatch with the production of the ref.3960 in 1989, their 150th anniversary piece. After the ref.3960, Patek began to add complications into their officer style cases, and the 5059 was born in 1998. The added material with that hinged caseback adds a little bit of height to the watch, but there is no need to worry about being thick in any way. The screws are also in shape just like the old officer cased pocket watches from the early 20th century which adds a touch of originality. On the wrist, we like the masculine fit of this watch compared to its brothers (3940,5039). It sits slightly thicker to its siblings, but by no means this is a big or thick watch, it is still a compact watch that will slide underneath just about any cuffs, it is just a matter of perspective here. When the watch is not on the wrist, there is a growing temptation of flipping the hinged caseback for fun to see the beautifully finished movement.
We’ve owned the pair together for a couple months now but we have just realised something only while taking pictures side by side. If you look closely between the 2 watches, the dial font as well as thickness in numerals are slightly different, with the yellow gold 5059 font being in thinner font and the white gold piece being in a thicker font, meaning there must be a dial series on this 5059 as well, just like other references from that era of Patek. So we have been digging into the rabbit hole of 5059s, looking at all past examples and any information we can find to discover the 2 different dial series. Up until now, we could not find the exact series of dials, but there are a higher number of watches with the same dial as the white gold 5059 we have. Although we have not been able to find enough evidence to prove the 2 dial series, the research will not be stopped here. Extracts for both watches are pending which will allow for exact production year for each piece. But from my gathered information, both 5059s we currently own are from after 2000, and the mission to distinguish the two series of dial will continue.
As mentioned above, we believe this is one of those under the radar pieces from the golden era of Patek. With its rather shorter run of production (1998-2008) and with less than 400 pieces made in respective precious metals, it is not a watch you will find everyday. If you are looking for something different, want to stand out, or want to own a ‘if you know you know’ type of watch, this may be it. Well you have a choice, yellow or white gold. Because we are lucky enough to own both.
