Patek Philippe this morning officially opened the long-awaited new PP6 production facility at its Plans-les-Ouates headquarters on the outskirts of Geneva and, as they are wont to do, revealed a new watch to celebrate. Now to all but the most fervent of watch nerds the opening of a building doesn’t sound that exciting but thankfully, the watch in question really is.
The 6007A-001 is a stainless steel Calatrava, something that has been missing from Patek’s line-up for a number of years, making the yellow gold Ref. 5196J Calatrava the brand’s entry point for men’s watches. Curiously, the rose and white gold examples of the same watch are more expensive.
Unfortunately, this stunning new example is not entering the collection permanently, but rather 1,000 pieces are being made as a limited run.
The Stern family introduced the Calatrava in 1932 shortly after taking control of the business and the aforementioned present-day models still look much the same today. However, the collection has been opened up somewhat in recent years to include models such as the Ref. 6006G with pointer date and last year’s surprise hit, the Ref. 5212A-001 weekly calendar, was even referred to as a Calatrava.
This new watch is undoubtedly the most contemporary Calatrava and perhaps even the most contemporary Patek full stop.
Immediately drawing focus is the blue multi-layered dial comprising three distinct concentric rings and a decorated centre. The two outermost rings are home to a white printed minutes/seconds track and bold oversized applique Arabic numeral hour markers respectively. These appear to be filled in with luminous material (we’re awaiting confirmation) which would certainly make this one of the punchiest ever Pateks.
At the very centre, surrounded by a printed white railway track on a snailed ring, is a disc given over to a crosshatched chequers board decoration, a pattern Patek refers to as ‘carbon’, the high-tech reference might not be necessary but it looks very nice indeed. A date window at the three o’clock position (perfectly pleasant as date windows go) and pierced white gold hands coated in white lacquer and filled with lume finish the dial.
Flip over the highly polished 40mm stainless steel case and Patek has used a sapphire crystal exhibition caseback marked with the Calatrava cross and the words ‘New Manufacture 2019’, referencing the year when the first workers set up home in the new building, to show off its manufacture self-winding calibre 324 S C movement.
The strap however has left me a little confused. It looks great, don’t get me wrong, but Patek has this listed as calfskin leather embossed with a fabric pattern when the images we’re all looking at clearly show a fabric strap. I’ve seen very convincing embossed patterns on leather straps before but I can’t believe the images we’re all looking at show anything other than a fabric strap. I’d actually prefer it to be fabric.
And you thought a watch marking the opening of a building wouldn’t be exciting.
Price & Specs:
Brand: Patek Philippe
Model Name: Calatrava 6007A
Ref: 6007A-001
Case/Dial: 40mm diameter x 9.07mm thickness, stainless steel
Water Resistance: 30m (3 bar)
Movement: Calibre 324 SC, in-house, automatic, Patek hallmark
Frequency: 28,800 vph (3 Hz)
Power Reserve: 35-45h
Functions: Hours and minutes, seconds, date
Strap: Grey-blue calfskin with steel pin buckle
Price: €25,720, limited to 1,000 pieces
More details at Patek Philippe.
