Photo tour of London Patek Philippe ADs
 

When it comes to fine watches, London has a bit of everything to offer :thumbsup:

The other day i went for a wander into central to hunt down my next piece and below are snaps of some of the pieces I tried on in my hunt.

like my Rolex photo tour, the Patek tour covers the main tourists areas and would make for a great tour for anyone coming to our fine city as a tourist

here are the snaps...

First stop
Mappin & Webb, 132 Regent St. map here.
These guys usually have a good selection and quite friendly when it comes to trying on.
window display from Regent St
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5726 Annual Calendar action - this is an amazing piece that sits very comforable on the wrist
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Next up, 5980. while i'm no Chrono fan (unless it's a Speedy Pro), i could get used to this. a lot more heft to this than any other PP i've tried on
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Second stop
Watches of Switzerland, Oxford Street, Map here
This is one of my favourite shops. Very friendly bunch who usually know their stuff and don't try sell you crap with "price increase in 30 mins".
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First up, 6000. This is one of the candidates I was after but i was quite disappointed with it when on the wrist. too small, cluttered dial and i just didn't get the Patek feel from it
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Next up, 5130. :wow: - what a dial!!! stunning and just the right size
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Third stop
Wempe, New Bond St. Map here
This is a must stop when in London. Great selection and very friendly staff. No snobbiness or other nonsense here
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Here's one we rarely see, 5124 Gondolo. Stunning art deco watch. Very comfy but at £20k, i'd rather fork out a bit more and get some complications. the tang buckle also didn't do the watch justice
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Here we go - AC action! 5146, stunning creamy/ivory dial. Just about the right size and would make even the most fussy collector happy
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Next up, 5146. This is more me, very nice slate grey dial and intersting inwards bevels on the sides. Strap too shiny but noting that couldn't be fixed. Score: love at first sight
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5960, one of the hottest sellers but i'm not really a Chrono man. If you want weight, this is the one for you. I did find it a bit unbalanced on the wrist
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Fourth Stop
Patek showroom, New Bond Street
I'm not going to bother reviewing this place as I stood around for 2 mins while the one free sales person was busy texting away so I moved on. Their selection was also poor.
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Fifth Stop
Mappin & Webb, 1 Old Bond St. Map (opposite the Ritz) here.
Good AC etc selection
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the 5726 really sings to me but get this: it had a scratch the width and depth of a badger's whisker! the sales lady told one of assistants to polish it out!! Good grief!!! i wonder what else their watches have to hide!!
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No comments needed here :agree:
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5396. What a watch! great looking piece that looks like a cheapo Seiko so will fly right under the radar. only downside to this was the polished bezel which already showed a lot of marks - but not something that these guys couldn't polish out!
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Sixth and final stop
Watches of Switzerland, 61 Brompton Rd, Knightsbridge. Map here
Another must stop. The manager Neil is very friendly and helpful
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here's one we don't see too often, 5213. real officer's watch! Stunning watch but a bit spicy at £68k.
ALSO, when inspecting the watch we spotted a piece of dirt on the minute hand!! not long ago we heard of a fellow TRF member whose Aquanaut had a scratched dial. Oh dear.
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5140, another one we rarely see. stunning blue dial with matching strap. very very nice
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case back of the 5213
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Last but not least, the 5098. i love the look of this in pictures, but in reality it looks like a Franck Muller - not for me
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that's it folks, hope you enjoyed looking at the snaps!

Nice pics. A few pieces that you don't often see over here.

Another incredible AD tour Anders.

I fear unless I win the lottery a Patek will never be on my wrist.

I remember a post from you a while back. :twit: But I'm all for expanding horizons and appreciating something you may not of done before. :cheers:

So which one are you buying???? :chuckle:

cheers mate

she coined the phrase "rolex is common as muck"!!

she loves the Aquanaut and would rather have pateks around than rolexes

PPs aren't that pricey really, consolidate 2-3 SS rolexes and you can have yourself a nice patek

not sure mate... i didn't like the straps on any of the ACs part from the 5726 (with the deployment clasp)

fancy a 5711 but will see.. a 5711 would look good on your wrist mate!!

Anders, your pictures are incredible! I'm glad to see you were able to try so many different models (sorry to read about that saleswoman sending text messages while there are customers in the store but it seems like it was an unique case, the customer service in those other stores seemed great). :cheers:

I agree with you about the 5396, a very subtle piece with well displayed complications, it is simply a piece of art! :thumbsup:

Thank you for sharing!

mouth watering...

the 5726 and the cream white dial 5146 are the clear winners for me.

it was actually a guy!!!

Great reviews and photos, very interesting - thanks Anders :thumbsup:

Anders - amazing post!! Thank you for taking the time to do this. It must be nice to have so many PP dealers in an area.

I am really curious as to your thoughts more in depth on the 5980. You mentioned it had the most presence than the other Nauts. Could you expand on this if you remember it. I am torn on 5980 or 5726/1a.

Thanks again Anders for such an amazing trip down PP lane:cheers:

Great Pictures Anders, thanks for sharing.


That 5140 sure looks interesting, your right it's something you just don't see everyday.

awesome writeup!
and looks like a great time with all of the ADs (except for one)..
some really nice and unique pieces there!
I love to have the time and the opportunity to go to a number a ADs...

thank you!

I know the feeling about straps, I am not sure what I would like next, however, some of those watches started me thinking.. :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

:cheers:

That 5726 Annual Calendar is a stunner :clap:

Great pics and post Anders :cheers:

no worries mate, this was no trouble at all...:thumbsup:

so regarding the 5980, the 28-520 Chrono movement adds some extra weight (despite the fact it uses fewer parts than the 5726), along with the bracelet.

by comparison, i'd say the 5726 probably weighs around the same but the leather strap doesn't add the extra bulk down the sides for balancing

the 5980 resized properly and it'd be very comfy. while it doesn't hug the wrist it does sit very flat

the dial, the aperture is really nice and doesn't clutter it like we see on other chronos.

Thank Anders for the info. Hard to find a 5126/1A (bracelet version) here in the US to try. :crying:

Thanks, Anders, for an excellent post - great info, observations and pics... :cheers:

FWIW my 5726/1A weighs in at 139 grams, as opposed to my SubC at 147 grams. The 5726 is not as tall as the Sub and IMO has better balance than either the Sub or the 5726 on the strap. It "wears" beautifully.

Again, great post...

The guy inside the shop was probably the security guard, most of the SA's in the Bond St shop are female. I have purchased many PP's from the flagship store and the customer service is excellent.

Ps. The Boodles store on Sloan St have a very good selection and since they have moved out of the Harrods concession, Harrods do not stock PP anymore.

negative, it was a guy.. the security guys were climbing the wall. the sales guy had just helped two tourists, then sat down with his phone in his lap... anyway the selection was poor so didn't miss out

Awesome photo tour - those are some stunning watches!

Whoa, that makes me miss London, maybe time to visit again....LOL. Great pics and tour... btw, the 5980 looks great on your wrist!!

Sweet! Thanks for sharing! I still think you own one of the best models out there from Patek. I have to say that the GMT version of the Aquanaut is mighty nice as well.

Look like you had a awesome day!

Wow this was incredible! Thanks for sharing the fun :)

Love the photos, thanks for sharing. So jealous that there are so many PP ADs in London.

Cheers,
James

cheers guys

i'm off to visit another two PP ADs on Sat then i've been to them all in central London

will post more snaps...

My apologies, I misread the post. :cheers:

Love the 5726 Annual Calendar on bracelet! It's such a beautiful watch, it's certainly on my wishlist !

Wonderful pics. Thanks for sharing.