Thoughts on the Calatrava 5212A weekly calendar?

[Parapraxis]

Hey guys,

I've been eyeing this piece for 2 years now. Some days I love it and its the one, other days I talk myself out of it. I don't have any Patek yet but did meet with my local AD last year to open a profile. I'm thinking of following up and perhaps requesting this piece.

My thoughts on it:

Pros:
- very interesting dial, much more fun than a basic calatrava
- steel case!
- decent price point for a first Patek
- nice useful complication (date, day, month, okay and week as well i guess) so it would be useful in day to day wear versus spending a lot of money on a time only piece

Cons:
- for a watch that goes to extreme lengths to show everything on the dial, the date window seems like a cheap way out to tell the date
- the text is very interesting; hand-written initially so no two letters are the same... but then they printed that initial text on all of the dials. So that's kind of a bummer, would be better if each dial was hand written individually. I anticipate a lot of "wow is that text hand written?" questions, to which I'll have to respond "I mean kind of, its printed on the dial, but the initial inspiration was hand written though"
- who knows if they will offer this to me as a first piece. If not, I may have to seriously consider going second hand since they aren't trading too much over retail at the current moment

Any additional thoughts from people who are more familiar with Patek would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[JR16]

I like it a lot but for me, the steel on this model is a negative - if they ever do it in a PM, I’m in .


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[Mini2]

Love it but different colour strap for me but cant get one.

[azizu]

It is an interesting watch for sure, not my first choice as i would normally go with traditional PP annual calendar (5396, 5205, 5146 etc).
if you are getting for retail price from the AD (without having to buy anything before it) then for sure go for it. but note that it is considered a steel watch and the AD might not allocate you another steel watch for a while or without purchasing a precious metal etc.
if you are buying it from grey market then i would defiantly look at alternatives that you could purchase them below retail as opposed to over retail

[np2016]

A very difficult model to get if your AD has one at retail buy it now don't think twice about it.

[nyc2la]

Very cool watch. I would love to see it in platinum at some point, too.

[Russell996]

Love mine on blue.




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[Snerks]

Its selling for, at minimum 10k+ over retail.

The chance of you getting one at retail randomly from an AD is essentially 0.

[PatekSF]

It’s a fantastic reference and a great daily wear, especially given its very light weight.

The one dilemma that I have, and that no one at Patek has been able to answer, is why at the top of the day ring does it state “Sunday”, yet according to ISO 8601 standards, the first day of the week is “Monday”?

The PP manual states: “Your timepiece’s mechanism has been designed to start on Monday in accordance with ISO 8601.”

[Parapraxis]

Originally Posted by Mini2

Love it but different colour strap for me but cant get one.

I agree the strap it comes on is terrible. I saw one on YouTube on a red strap and it was gorgeous.

Blue looks cool too, or just a darker brown.

[chennney]

I picked it up in time for Christmas and have been wearing it regularly as my daily. The dial and indices are very dynamic in the light and have great contrast. Really easy watch to dress down and wear everyday.

[LJubel328]

Originally Posted by Russell996

Love mine on blue.




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Looks amazing with that strap you put on


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[Jmaster]

It is realistic to buy this as a first Patek? My AD said that this piece is only allocated to repeat Patek buyer with sizable spending history. My SA pretty much told me to forget about it.

[DonLee]

i think the only problem i have with this watch is the choice of font...

[ChetBaker]

Hah! That’s basically the usp of this watch then.

[Mini2]

Originally Posted by Parapraxis

I agree the strap it comes on is terrible. I saw one on YouTube on a red strap and it was gorgeous.

Blue looks cool too, or just a darker brown.

Terrible Its not that bad but not the best
I like the blue but red would be interesting

[Russell996]

Originally Posted by PatekSF

It’s a fantastic reference and a great daily wear, especially given its very light weight.

The one dilemma that I have, and that no one at Patek has been able to answer, is why at the top of the day ring does it state “Sunday”, yet according to ISO 8601 standards, the first day of the week is “Monday”?

The PP manual states: “Your timepiece’s mechanism has been designed to start on Monday in accordance with ISO 8601.”

Not quite sure why you think monday isn’t the first day of the week? The calendar mechanism for the week moves on a week when the day moves from Sunday to Monday.

[bogdoc]

This was one watch which I liked a lot in pictures but not when I tried it. IMO dial is too busy but that's me.

[scurfa]

I would like to see this one but missed the local event, I did ask for one but the wait at my AD is 5 years based on interest.


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[Ichiran]

This watch is hard to get. I like it a lot because it is great looking and is a very unique watch from the traditional Patek line-up.

[Parapraxis]

Originally Posted by Mini2

Terrible Its not that bad but not the best
I like the blue but red would be interesting

https://youtu.be/ZYW3Rq77Tfw

Tell me that strap doesn't look gorgeous on this watch!

[QuelleHeureEstIl]

When released, it was "easy" to get.

As many have said, the original strap does not give justice to this watch.

My only complains (like with most of the pp watches):
- no strap (rubber, composite, etc) to enjoy the watch in humid climates
- water resistance a little sub standard
- caliber is a little plain/dated/small (rotor could be guillochet/decorated and smaller to hide less surface) when you compare to ALS or other modern ones. Caliber 30-255PS has more contemporary specs.
- power reserve could be higher

But except these "details", the dial, steal, the concept, the size are excellent and make this watch a must have (I was very close to press the trigger).

[Mini2]

Originally Posted by Parapraxis

https://youtu.be/ZYW3Rq77Tfw

Tell me that strap doesn't look gorgeous on this watch!

I want one

[Johnnyhayward]

Originally Posted by scurfa

I would like to see this one but missed the local event, I did ask for one but the wait at my AD is 5 years based on interest.

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Happy to show you mine one day or if you fancy coming along to the next RedbarNE gtg in Newcastle.

I’ve been waiting to get one for a few years and it was going to be about another 10 years with the current lists and based on how many they’ve received since launch. So I bought it used and over rrp but am very glad I did. It’s certainly one of my favourites now.

Needs to be on a strap other than the original brown, my favourite is the blue from the 5172 also.

[DavidSB]

It's become a favorite and I enjoy the visuals of the 5 hand display and font. I love the silver opaline dial which it pretty amazing, especially in daylight. Try to see one outside. The movement has 304 parts in a 10.8mm case height so it wears pretty thin. By comparison my 5167a - my most comfortable - is 8.1mm with 213 parts. Like others I switched to the blue 5172 strap, added a white gold deployment and wear it much more often.

[PatekSF]

Originally Posted by Russell996

Not quite sure why you think monday isn’t the first day of the week? The calendar mechanism for the week moves on a week when the day moves from Sunday to Monday.

If Monday is the first day of the week, then why didn’t Patek print the day ring with Monday at the very top?

Goofy that the top of the day ring shows Sunday, IMO

[Russell996]

Originally Posted by PatekSF

If Monday is the first day of the week, then why didn’t Patek print the day ring with Monday at the very top?

Goofy that the top of the day ring shows Sunday, IMO

There is a possible argument for that, but I was simply pointing out that the piece conforms to the ISO standard with monday being trigger for the week change.

I like the quirky nature of the dial so am happy with everything as is.

[2nastie]

OP, another silly question with your expectation on allocation (especially in Canada and Toronto). Goes in par with your Columbia Rolex thread.

I say, do your extensive homework first but you won’t get this as a first watch from Patek. Search button on this forum would help a lot.

Toronto in particular, “open your file” would be buying multiple watches from them before the file is actually open. They are just doing a lip service.

As for the watch itself. Beautiful piece in person. Definitely worth considering. And if you are willing to pay secondary market prices, I say go for it.

[gummy]

Such a great piece...

Text on the dial is very cool along with the dial color.

[gummy]

Originally Posted by DavidSB

It's become a favorite and I enjoy the visuals of the 5 hand display and font. I love the silver opaline dial which it pretty amazing, especially in daylight. Try to see one outside. The movement has 304 parts in a 10.8mm case height so it wears pretty thin. By comparison my 5167a - my most comfortable - is 8.1mm with 213 parts. Like others I switched to the blue 5172 strap, added a white gold deployment and wear it much more often.

Love the blue strap