Month: December 2018

The newest novelties offered up by Patek Philippe in 2019 are impressive hardware rolled out at Baselworld in the past few days. A refreshed look for the Aquanaut, an all-new perpetual calendar Nautilus, and a very sleek salmon-dial perpetual chronograph are just a small part of the new gems we were able to take a first-hand look at during the fair, and across the board, the response has been glowingly positive.
Though a brand famous for its elegant and classically-designed pieces, it would seem that 2019 is the year for the replica Patek Philippe to focus on their more casual and sporting offerings.
Those less familiar with the brand might be surprised to hear that a Perpetual Calendar has never been provided in the iconic case design until this year, and at the end of the day the new execution is nothing short of fantastic. The conventional Patek perpetual calendar layout is oddly well suited to the Nautilus dial and allows its horizontal ribbing and baton indices to remain largely intact. We all know how much love the Royal Oak perpetual calendar has been getting lately, and we do not doubt that this new Nautilus is poised to dethrone the fake AP as the ultimate casual perpetual calendar on the market.
Few have been as controversial as the Calatrava Pilot of the recent releases from replica Patek Philippe. Not being a brand with any special heritage in the pilot watch field, its initial release came across as a touch contrived, but once you get past the history lesson the piece is still fairly appealing from a product standpoint.  
Somewhere along the road in the last several years, salmon dials have become a bit of a “thing” in the popular watch market. Previously quite a niche, we’ve seen salmon dials make their way into releases from Greubel Forsey and De Bethune, and even though Patek had previously made available a small number of special boutique edition salmon dials available to more prestigious clients in the past, this is the first time they’re integrating the unique color option into their standard production. As for me, we lean towards the former rather than the latter, though only time will tell.
Possibly the most impressive offering from Patek this year that grabbed attention, this new Aquanaut with orange accents is a blatant, albeit fairly smart attempt by the brand to capture a younger and sportier audience. To be honest, it’s both a smart move and generally a very handsome fake swiss watches so long as you’re into the color combo. We can’t help but wonder if this will be a one-off attempt, or simply a taste of what’s to come in the next several years.