There’s plenty to be said about Patek Philippe’s quiet unveiling of the new 5905/1A: It’s sporty as hell. It’s in stainless steel — which, if you know Patek, is a big deal. It’s eye-wateringly expensive. (Par for the course for a watch like this, and not particularly notable, honestly.) But we’re simple people here at the Gear Patrol Watch Desk (perhaps I should be speaking for myself…), and what we noticed first was: it’s green. Like, really green — with an olive green sunburst dial.
But back to the watch itself. What is the 5905? It’s an annual calendar, meaning it can compute (in this case, mechanically) the day, date and month (including the number of days in said month) for an entire 365-day stretch without adjustment, with the exception of on the first day March. (February throws everybody for a loop — even Patek.) But it’s also a flyback chronograph with a 60-minute counter. Impressive.
This isn’t the first 5905 — there has been a platinum version with a blue dial (5905P-001) as well as a black dial (5905P) and a rose gold version with a brown dial (5905R-001). But a steel watch from this giant of Swiss watchmaking is rare: Brand President Thierry Stern has admitted that steel watches account for roughly 30% of the company’s annual output. Not a lot. So to get a complicated steel watch on a matching steel, Oyster-type bracelet is pretty special.
But back to the whole “green” thing. Wow, is green big right now. Everybody’s doing it. Even Rolex is doing it. It’s as if there’s an entire company dedicated to forecasting color trends and entire industries subscribe to its every whim and word. (Wink.) I personally like to imagine that there is an ancient Swiss oracle in a fuming portal the horological underground, located beneath the Jet D’eau in Geneva, who makes trend pronouncements, and the entire watch industry dutifully does whatever this being says.
But I digress. Green is in, people. (We even dedicated an entire section in our upcoming issue of Gear Patrol magazine to said trend — stay tuned.) There have been green TAG Heuers, green Timexes, green Seikos. I mean, it was only a matter of time before we got something stunning and green from Patek Philippe.
The 42mm 5905/1A is powered by the Caliber CH 28‑520 QA 24H automatic movement and is water-resistant to 30m. (The bracelet makes it look deceptively sporty, but do us a favor and don’t take this thing in the pool. The hour markers also aren’t lumed, so maybe leave it on the side table when you’re out on night maneuvers and take your trusty G-Shock, instead. For everything else, there’s Patek.) It lists for $59,140.
