This year at Watches & Wonders, Patek Philippe introduced the white gold 5396G Annual Calendar, which adds a gradient blue dial and diamond baguette indices to the existing collection.
The 5396G is still a 5396, with a white gold case measuring 38.5 by 11.2mm and water resistant to 30 meters. Patek’s caliber 26‑330 S QA LU 24H is visible through a sapphire caseback and powers the annual calendar, moonphase, and a center sweep seconds hand. The day and month sit in-line below 12 o’clock, while the date is cut out of the subdial at 6 o’clock
The sunburst blue dial has a gradient that transitions to black by the minute track. The combination of the sunburst effect and smooth gradient has a subtle effect that keeps the dial more interesting than a typical flat treatment otherwise might. Sharp dauphine hands and a sweeping seconds finish off the look. The 5396G is delivered on a matching shiny blue alligator strap with a deployant clasp.
The Patek 5396G Annual Calendar has an MSRP of $63,510 – for reference, it’s $6,000 more than the existing 5396R that remains in the catalog.
Taking a step back for a moment, the Patek 5396 Annual Calendar was introduced way back 2006 as the first annual annual calendar in a Calatrava-style case; remember, the first Patek annual calendar was only introduced a decade earlier. Patek last updated the 5396 lineup in 2016 on the 20th anniversary of the complication. Now, the reference gets its most dressed-up treatment yet. Patek has used the blue gradient dial and baguette indices combinations a few times now; I particularly appreciate it in the 5170P, Patek’s first chronograph with an in-house caliber. Using the combination for its long-running annual calendar reference feels like a fitting tribute to the 5396. Doing it in platinum would’ve been a real statement, but perhaps platinum should stay (mostly) reserved for a higher comp like this year’s 5236P. Is the 5396 worthy of the baguette treatment? I dunno, but whenever I think of the reference I remember John Mayer waxing poetically about the limited-edition 5396G for Tiffany & Co. with a black dial and Breguet numerals. That watch was limited and more special than this version, but if the 5396 was good enough for Mayer and Tiffany & Co., surely it’s befitting of baguette indices. More broadly, baguette indices are one of my preferred modes of putting diamonds on a dial. It feels a bit more subdued than many other takes on diamond setting, as much as a bunch of diamonds can ever really be subdued. But it works well in Rexhep Rexhepi’s Rubis or Diamont, and it looks to succeed here, too. Combined with the typical gradient blue dial, it makes for a compelling addition to Patek’s annual calendar lineup.