Long-Term Review: Patek Philippe Calatrava Weekly Calendar 5212A-001
The weekly calendar 5212A from Patek Philippe is the dress watch I have worn the most during the last 2 years. It is a versatile watch suitable for remote work, hybrid-work and full return to office. I took it to NBA games and weekend hikes with friends. It is the watch that I received the most compliments, in person with watch friends or on the Instagram.
On the dial of 5212A, the week hand with a red hammer travels one full circle a year, making 52 stops along the way. Just like our Earth rotates around the Sun, one revolution per year. Time is slow, see, it takes one year to finish one turn. But time is fast too - we are at the 48th week of year already, and 2022 is ending soon. A weekly calendar reminds us the steady elapese of time and helps us keep track of the important milestones of the year. What a wonderful companion to have on the wrist!
Among the 33 timepieces in Patek's Complications Collection, 5212A is by far the least expensive one. This is partly due to the stainless steel case (the A for acier in the reference). 5212A is a marvelous entry point to Patek ownership. I know quite a few friends who are patiently waiting for an allocation. It will be worth the wait, I promise!
A Rare Complication
The weekly calendar, the week number, or the week indicator is an uncommon complication. I only could find a few examples from the web and most of them are out of production. Please see below three beautiful weekly calendar watches from Blancpain, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet.
In all three designs, the week numbers are displayed at the outmost rim of the dial. In two of the watches, the months are shown next to the week numbers as well. One interesting observation is that two watches show 52 weeks, while one shows 53 weeks. The facts behind the design choices are the following. For most years, there are 52 weeks. However, in 5 to 6 years, there will be a year with a 53rd week. Neither 365 or 367 can be divided by 7. So, this 53rd week is needed once in 5 to 6 years. That explains who the 53rd week were omitted in some designs. We also see that many sub-dials are used here to indicate the passing of day, date, month and moon phase.
Now, let's see how Patek Philippe designers could top these!
The Design of Calatrava Weekly Calendar
The Calatrava 5212A debuted in 2019 and it was the first weekly calendar ever produced by Patek. The whole Patek collection is divided into Grand Complications, Complications, Calatrava, Nautilus, Aquanaut, etc . Reference 5212A is the only Calatrava model that belongs to the "Complications"collection, rather than the "Calatrava" collection. A bit confusing, but I will have a guess for the reason shortly. This is a stainless steel dress watch, which further adds to the rarity.
For many modern Patek timepieces, the deigns are rooted in the brand's rich heritage. There is no exception for 5212. The inspiration came from reference 2512 of 1950s. Notice the relationship in the reference numbers.
The next design decision was a huge one. Unlike the designs by other brands shown above, there would be no sub-dials. All five hands would be stacked together in the center. This was a challenging technical feat to pull off. The result was a dial design that focusing the attentions on the center, then going out to outer dial area. All the information is neatly presented for easy reading. The center-focused dial design and the round case made this reference a "Calatrava". However, It needs to be in the "Complications" collection with this intriguing weekly calendar complication. It makes sense to be together with annual calendars, chronographs and world time watches. This is my take on why a Calatrava is not in the “Calatrava” collection.
Last but not least, Patek dazzled the watch community with another unprecedented trick. This whismical move made the watch such a playful and charming watch. I was referring to the hand-written fonts for the letters and numerals on the dial.
According to a recount in the Patek Magazine, Mr. Thierry Stern, the CEO of Patek Philippe, was behind this idea. After seeing the design drawn by a Patek designer (see below), he asked why not use the hand-written characters for the final product. Such a brilliant idea and a flawless execution!
What delighted collectors was a design rooted in Patek DNAs, yet conceived full of daring, artistic imagination. This watch was on the cover page of Europa Star magazine, second issue in 2019.
A New Movement 26-330 S C J SE
Among Patek's many movements, there are two main families: 240 and 324. The 240 family comes with a micro rotor, while the 324 family is equipped with a central rotor. For 5212A, a new movement named "26-330 S C J SE" was developed. It was based on 324, but with tons of improvements and add-ons for the weekly function. There are 304 total parts, with 212 parts for the gear train and date ("C" for calendar) and 92 parts for the day of the week ("J" for jour) and week number ("SE" for semaine).
Patek decided to have a new rotor shape to mark the debut of this new movement. Please see the more rounded rotor outline below.
Another big change was the adding of a hacking function. The 324 family doesn't hack. The traditional consideration was to protect the escapement (by avoid touching it too hard). The same is true for many movements from Vacheron Constantin and F.P. Journe.
I like the hacking function, as I love to set accurate time for the watches and keep tracking of timing accuracy. It is a trade-off that Patek decided to take in favor of hacking. I trust that they must have done tons of tests to ensure to damage to the escapement. We may see the beautiful mechanism below for stopping the balance wheel with the pulling-out of the crown.
The picture below shows the mechanisms for the day of week and the week number. The Day Star and Day Jumper are responsible for the advance of day of week hand. If you look for the "Driving Star", you will see a wheel with 7 teeth. One of the teeth is longer than all the other. On every Monday, the Driving Star pushes the Week Yoke with its longest teeth, which in turn drives the Week Star (connecting to the week hand). You may find animation of how this work in this video from Patek.
When my weekly calendar was brand new about 2 years ago, the timing accuracy was +1.4 seconds per day. For this review, I measured it again with a timegrapher. The result by averaging over 6 positions was +1.5 seconds per day. Wow, talking about consistency!
The movement is meticulously finished worthy of the PP Seal. Please enjoy a few macro shots below. The third shot zooms in on the anti-backlash third wheel with split teeth.
Pros and Cons
The Patek weekly calendar is a favorite watch for me and I wear it a lot. In the morning of a Monday, I would check closely to see a new week has arrived on the dial. On a Friday of an odd-numbered week, I know that is our company's payday. I have not seen another watch with five hands stacking in the center. What a marvelous micro-mechanical wonder!
With a 40mm diameter and 10.8mm in thickness, the wearability is super for most wrist sizes. I saw many wonderful wristshots on IG from both men and women. The slivery opaline dial and steel case make it easy to match with different straps. I have been pairing it with a leather strap from Kurono Tokyo. I love the hand-written poem on the strap matching with the dial.
Now, what are some misses and possible improvements? First, the date window. It is a plain, "no-frills" design. One prominent collector suggested using a border and recessing the aperture. Furthermore, it would look better if the color of the disc is the same as the dial. These change will certainly make the dial look ever stunning.
Another comment I heard is that the calfskin strap and the prong buckle look "cheap" for a watch at this price point. I guess that if Patek is to make a 5212 in precious metal case, the strap and buckle will be upgraded. Actually, longing for a 5212 with G, R, J or P is a dream of some collectors.
Here is a summary of the pros and cons.
Pros:
Slim profile of 40mm diameter and 10.8mm thickness
Suitable for both men and women
Accurate timing keeping
A rare week number complication
Unique hand-writing fonts
Rare 5 hands stacked in the center
A new movement with tons of improvements
Rare stainless steel dress watch from Patek
Dial color and steel case working with many straps
The least expensive piece among the 33 watches in "Complications" collection
Cons:
A very plain date aperture design
The months along the outmost ring are approximate (the match of week with month is not fixed for different years)
No options for precious metal cases
Conclusions
5212A was featured in Volume IV Number 7, 2019 of the Patek Philippe Magazine, in “Welcome to the Week”, written by Mr. Nicholas Foulkes. It was mentioned that the weekly calendar is one of “small” and “useful complications” that are “popular with clients”. Other examples included the Annual Calendar and Travel Time. Patek launches such complications from time to time to delight the clients. They certainly succeeded beautifully with 5212A.
Lastly, here are some more wrist shots. Four more weeks and we are in 2023!
Lovely read man. Thanks for sharing
Wonderful article and photos.
I’ve had my 5212a for 4 months. Has anyone of you observed that the watch easily comes to a standstill or lags a few minutes behind on Mondays ? I suspect that the additional hand movements on Sunday night - weekday, date and week - drain the power reserve more than usual.
I now wind up my watch on Sunday evening and Monday morning, which helps (sometimes).
I haven’t found anything on that topic online but most reviews are uncritical and promotional.
I’d be happy about feedback !