The Fourth Wheel, Issue 65

Hands on with the Patek Philippe 6007G

Hello and welcome back to The Fourth Wheel, the watch newsletter that, yes, is a day late. Deepest apologies; family life continues to be all-consuming, so you get a weekend dose of reading instead of something to do on Friday while you’re pretending to work. In the same vein, I must own up to not really having had time to read as much this week, so the recommended links section is… short. What is it they say - always leave them wanting more? Until next time, fourth wheelers¹.

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Studies have shown that sleep deprivation has a similar effect on ones abilities to alcohol. Safely driving a car is the example used, rather than composing email newsletters (if anything, I feel that my writing takes on a little je ne sais quoi after a couple of well-timed glasses of wine) but I mention it here because as I come to the third week of parenting a newborn baby I’d like to pre-emptively ask your forgiveness for any mistakes that may creep in.

Speaking of the effect of children on The Fourth Wheel… my young son had barely been home 24 hours before he, ah, baptised my watch during a nappy change. It was my own fault for wearing a NATO strap, and I can happily report that the Mido Ocean Star coped with this unexpected attack perfectly well, but it got me thinking. Our first child has never damaged or otherwise interfered with any of my watches in her three years of life - in fact, I recall that I once gave her a Seiko diver to play with, aged two, to demonstrate its hardiness² - but the boy has made his intentions quite clear. I’m going to have to keep an eye on him. It made me wonder as well: what are your experiences in this area, dear readers? Do you have stories of infant-meets-watch to make a collector’s toes curl? Please share! I’ll publish any that are particularly amusing/horrifying.

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Enjoying The Fourth Wheel? Never know what to give your friends and family? Did you know you can give a paid subscription as a gift? Well, you can!

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Review: Patek Philippe Calatrava 6007G

There is a commonly-held belief that Patek Philippe is a fundamentally conservative watchmaker. It is not hard to see how this comes about; the brand certainly encourages the perception through some of its behaviour. There’s the magic pomposity of the advertising campaign³, with its sepia-tinted wholesomeness. The shades-of-beige decoration of its boutiques, and the insistence on calling them ‘salons’. The earnest gravitas of its press gifts; you won’t find Patek Philippe dishing out baseball caps or gimmicky pens with USB storage in their caps. It’s all ornamental plates and silk ties. These and other micro-behaviours⁴ conspire to foster an image of superiority, and when you take that in the context of a legacy watch brand, conservatism goes hand-in-hand. Older and grander = better.

Except, when you actually look past the frills and judge Patek Philippe on its watches alone, this buttoned-up aura recedes. In fact, the brand’s image changes significantly. Yes, you have the engraved case of the Grandmaster Chime and the hand-painted enamel worldtimers, representatives of a design language that’s straight out of an English stately home. But you also have the advanced research division, the rainbow Aquanaut, the sporty 5470P. And - to belatedly arrive at the subject of this review - you have the Calatrava 6007G, announced at Watches and Wonders in April and if you ask me, a trio of watches worthy of much more interest than the Calatrava 24-hour 5224R that people seemed to latch onto.