Patek Philippe Grand Complications Ref. 5270G

Seventy years after the 1518

Patek Philippe made the first wristwatch with a perpetual calendar, No. 97'975, in 1925, and began regular production of perpetual calendar chronographs in 1941 with the ref. 1518. Every model in that line, through the 2499, the 3970 and the 5970, was built on a chronograph movement from an outside supplier: Valjoux first, then Lemania. One watch writer noted that output of every earlier reference was limited by what those suppliers could deliver.

Patek moved toward its own chronographs gradually. In 2005 it introduced the split-seconds ref. 5959P with its own caliber, then a self-winding chronograph caliber in 2006. In 2009, after five years of development, it unveiled the manual-wind caliber CH 29-535 PS, first in a ladies' chronograph and in 2010 in the men's ref. 5170. One account says the push was driven partly by expected disruption of outside supply, and by a wish to become more independent.

Patek spent November 2009 through the end of 2010 launching new chronographs. Then, at Baselworld in 2011, exactly 70 years after the 1518, it showed the 5270G, the first perpetual calendar chronograph with the new in-house movement. The perpetual calendar could not simply be carried over: the new movement put its subsidiary dials in different places, so Patek built a new calendar module, which took two years to match to the chronograph.

Six patents and a jumping minute

The CH 29-535 PS Q is a manual-wind, column-wheel chronograph with a lateral clutch, the classic layout Patek chose partly because it looks best through a sapphire back. The company says the base caliber includes six patented innovations. The chronograph wheels use newly calculated tooth profiles that reduce wear and prevent the hand from jumping when the chronograph starts. The polished column-wheel cap, once purely decorative, is slightly eccentric and sets the clutch lever's position. Other changes include self-adjusting hammers, a slotted minute cam to stop the hand from quivering on reset, and synchronized clutch and blocking levers.

The 30-minute counter jumps instantly to the next minute rather than creeping. The balance beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour, against 18,000 in the Lemania-based caliber it replaced. The movement measures 32 mm across and 7.00 mm thick, and has 456 parts and 33 jewels and 55 to 65 hours of power reserve with the chronograph stopped, according to the maker. It carries the Patek Philippe Seal rather than the Geneva Seal.

The calendar module alone has 182 parts and is just 1.65 mm high. The moon phase is accurate to one day in 122 years. A reviewer measured one at plus 2 seconds over four days, within the Patek Philippe Seal's limits of minus 3 to plus 2 seconds a day.

A larger case and a rearranged face

The white gold case is 41 mm across and 12.4 mm thick, cold-formed in-house in heavy presses, with a concave bezel, stepped lugs and rectangular chronograph pushers like those of the 1518. It is 1 mm wider than the 5970. A reviewer measured it as 0.6 mm thinner, while one auction catalog says 1 mm thinner, a gap that reflects the sources' disagreement over the 5970's own height.

The dial keeps the family layout of day and month windows at 12 and date with moon phase at 6, but changes the details. The seconds and 30-minute subsidiary dials sit slightly below the center line, a change one reviewer said was believed to make fakes easier to identify. The day/night and leap-year indicators moved out of the subsidiary dials into small round windows at about 7:30 and 4:30. The day/night window shifts gradually from white to blue over 24 hours.

The original 5270G-001 dial, silver with black-oxidized gold leaf hands and markers, dropped the tachymeter scale of the 5970 and had a noticeably larger 'Patek Philippe' name at 12. One quirk drew comment: the chronograph seconds track is divided into fifths of a second, which suits the old 18,000-beat movement, not the new one's 28,800 beats.

Three dials and 'the chin'

In late 2013 Patek replaced the 5270G-001 with two new versions, a silver opaline 5270G-013 and a blue sunburst 5270G-014, with white gold hands and markers and a restored tachymeter scale. To fit everything, the seconds and minute track dips in a semicircle around the date dial at 6 o'clock. Collectors call it 'the chin.' One reviewer called it a fundamental flaw, because a chronograph hand stopped between 27 and 33 seconds becomes hard to read. Others found the blue dial the most appealing yet; one collector said that with it, 'they fixed the watch.'

The chin disappeared with the next design. A reviewer saw the first chinless dial on the platinum, black-dial ref. 5271P in 2014; a later history dates the third series to 2015. On the white gold watch, the later 5270G-018 and 5270G-019, dated 2015 to 2017 by one dealer, use a shortened scale without the chin. There is also a 50-piece 5270G-015 Munich edition from 2013, with deep blue printing and blue chronograph details, and a reviewer reported in 2014 that a limited 5270G made for German retailers was already selling above retail at auction.

Because the first dial lasted only from 2011 to 2013, the 5270G-001 is treated as the first series and was already drawing extra demand by 2014, especially from buyers who disliked the chin. To tell them apart, look for black hands and markers and no tachymeter (-001), white gold hands with the dipped track (-013 and -014), or a chinless track (-018 and -019).

From waiting list to discontinuation

Demand at launch was strong. In early 2012 most authorized dealers were requiring an application and a deposit, and the watch retailed for $176,300, the same figure quoted in late 2014.

On the secondary market the first-series watch has stayed close to, or below, its old retail price. In 2019 a 5270G-001 sold online for $125,000, one of the 20 most expensive items sold that year on a major online marketplace. In December 2023 a 2011 5270G-001, its Certificate of Origin dated December 10, 2011, with box and an additional solid case back, sold at auction in New York for $114,300.

The white gold 5270G is now discontinued. One specialist gives its production as 2011 through 2017, and the maker's current movement page lists 5270 models in yellow gold and platinum but no white gold version. The reference itself continues, still built around the movement that ended Patek Philippe's reliance on outside chronograph calibers.

The numbers

Reference

5270G (18K white gold): -001 silver, no tachymeter (2011-2013); -013 silver and -014 blue with 'chin' (from late 2013); -018 and -019 chinless (2015-2017 by one dealer); -015 limited to 50 (2013)

Caliber

CH 29-535 PS Q, manual wind, column wheel, lateral clutch; 32 mm across, 7.00 mm thick; 456 parts; 33 jewels; 28,800 beats per hour; 55-65 hours power reserve; Breguet balance spring; Patek Philippe Seal

Calendar module

182 parts, 1.65 mm high; moon phase accurate to one day in 122 years

Case

18K white gold, 41 mm across, 12.4 mm thick, sapphire display back

Production years

2011 to 2017 by one specialist's account; numbers not disclosed

Retail

$176,300 (United States, 2012 and 2014)

Timeline

1. 1925

   Patek Philippe makes the first perpetual calendar wristwatch, No. 97'975.

2. 1941

   The ref. 1518 begins regular production of perpetual calendar chronographs.

3. 1986

   The ref. 3970 moves the line to a Lemania-based movement.

4. 2005

   Patek introduces its first fully in-house chronograph, the split-seconds ref. 5959P.

5. 2009

   The in-house caliber CH 29-535 PS debuts after five years of development, first in a ladies' chronograph.

6. 2010

   The caliber enters the men's ref. 5170 chronograph.

7. Mar 2011

   The 5270G is introduced at Baselworld, the 70th anniversary of the ref. 1518, replacing the 5970.

8. Dec 10, 2011

   Certificate date of a 5270G-001 that later sells in New York in 2023.

9. Feb 2012

   Dealers require applications and deposits; U.S. retail is $176,300.

10. 2013

    In late 2013 the -001 is discontinued and replaced by the silver -013 and blue -014, with tachymeter and 'chin.'

11. 2014

    The platinum ref. 5271P shows the first chinless 5270-family dial, by one reviewer's account.

12. 2015

    The third 5270 dial design debuts, by one history's dating, without the chin.

13. 2017

    Production of the white gold 5270G ends, by one specialist's account.

14. 2019

    A 5270G-001 sells online for $125,000.

15. Dec 2023

    A 2011 5270G-001 sells at auction in New York for $114,300.

The world in 2011

• Jan 14, 2011

  Tunisia's government falls, as Arab Spring protests spread across the region.

• Feb 11, 2011

  Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns.

• Mar 11, 2011

  A magnitude 9.1 earthquake and tsunami strike eastern Japan.

• Apr 29, 2011

  An estimated two billion people watch the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

• May 1, 2011

  President Obama announces that Osama bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan.

• Jul 9, 2011

  South Sudan becomes independent.

• Jul 21, 2011

  Space Shuttle Atlantis lands, ending NASA's shuttle program.

• Sep 17, 2011

  Occupy Wall Street protests begin in New York.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Patek Philippe Grand Complications Ref. 5270G is number 29 of 100 in the watches entries of the FLOAT 100. 54 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (34 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Its moon phase drifts by only one day every 122 years.
• The subsidiary dials were moved just below the center line, a change believed to make counterfeits easier to identify, and it forced Patek to design a whole new calendar module.
• The day/night window does not flip; it shifts gradually from white to blue over 24 hours.
• The 5270G arrived exactly 70 years after the ref. 1518, Patek Philippe's first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph.
• Its chronograph track is divided into fifths of a second, a holdover from the slower-beating movement it replaced.
• The polished cap on the column wheel, long a decorative mark of a fine chronograph, does real work here, setting the clutch lever's position.