Advice on path to Patek perpetual chronograph

[FrançoisCzapek]

I'm a fan of the 5960P and 5905P, the annual chronographs in platinum. I'm a fan of the more classic Patek faces and never chased the Aquanauts, and love the idea of the engineering that goes into a watch.

My grail pursuit is obviously going to take me to a perpetual chronograph in platinum, unless for some reason I want to deviate and chase discontinued steel Aquanauts thinking their prices have dipped.

I'm a bit confused on how to filter the perpetual chronographs in platinum from Patek's website and how to spot the recently discontinued models. My understanding is, these are my choices:

- 5270P 41 mm - would love to have this in the salmon dial; not a fan of the current model green dial
- 5970P
- 5372P (split second) 38.3 mm - would love to have this in blue
- 5204P (split second) 41 mm - looks great in black or the classic white
- 5271P (diamond encrusted) 41 mm - thought the diamonds/jewels look over the top
- 3970P 36 mm - pass on the tiny case
- 5951P - pass on the small square face

Questions:

1) Any other model I should consider, including recently discontinued ones?

2) Which are the current models that can be purchased from an AD? My understanding is a number of these are discontinued and can only be obtained from a gray market dealer

3) Assuming you are still saving up, when do you begin to build a relationship with an AD? Would you just walk into a store wearing the annual chrono and express interest in a perpetual chrono, but be honest and say you are not in a position to purchase this year?

4) When would you consider the gray market? Is it right that you might get your grail at 20% below retail?

5) How does the 5271 look in person? Does it inevitably draw too much attention to itself and does it have a loud presence?

6) Where are the prices of the relevant models right now? Any potential short term declines in price I should be aware of?

7) Any other advice?