What did 21 year old Henry Stern do in 1932 that changed the watch world? We'll find out.
Back in 1930, two young Henry Stern, 21 years old, his family owned a dial company and they
had a lot of different clients, different watch companies they produced dials for,
but one was of particular interest. It was a bankrupt company known as Patek Phillipe,
the Stern company. They bought their bankrupt client and changed the world of watchmaking.
They became part of the Stern family dynasty, part of their legacy. When
they charged Henry with introducing a new watch that would relaunch the Patek Philippe company
that would save them from bankruptcy and change the watch world. He came up with the reference 96.
Now the 96 is the hallowed reference and the Patek Philippe watch world.
Part of the problem with it is that it's a tiny 31 millimeter by today's standards,
but it was made for about 40 years. It was a huge run for any production from any watch company.
And so it was made from the 1930s till the early 1970s
already by the 80s, the fans of Patek Philippe were clamoring for
a new version. The nickname of the watch was Calatrava. This was one of those interesting
scenarios where the watch company eventually adopted the nickname as the official name of the
watch. The word Calatrava comes from the, the kind of cross that Patek Philippe uses as their logo.
So the watch was nicknamed Calatrava. People wanted one for a long time. Finally, in 2004,
Patek Philippe gave the public what they were clamoring for.
This is the 5196 G. And it is by all accounts,
the Patek Philippe, if you had to just pick one people, call us and ask us all the time,
which one should I get? Michael, there's so many different references, which one should I pick?
This is the Patek Philippe. So when you look at this, they even referenced the original
reference 96 in the name of it, it's a 5196. Definitely, they're pointing out the throwback
heritage of that original watch. The original one at 32 millimeters, a 31 millimeters was way too
small. This is a modern 37 millimeter frame that it's in. And when you look at it on the wrist,
I mean, it really is just the perfect watch. It has all these design cues from the original 96
reference. What you see here is a beautifully simple silver dial with Bhutan indices.
It has the Dauphine hands. It has the subseconds at six. O'clock just like the 96.
If you look at it from the side, it's nice and thin with the tapered lugs. And it has a,
not a real prominent crown that doesn't have any crown guards.
It's subtle. You have the matching 18 karat white gold buckle from Patek Philippe, by the way,
they're 18 karat gold, similar to Rolex. It is homogenous, 18 karat white gold. There's no
plating of anything on top of it, no plating to ever wear off. Uh, this is really one of
those watches that you just take care of for the generations. You can own it for decades and never
get tired of it. Never get over it. Never decide that you want to trade it in. Uh, although I guess
somebody did because they traded it in with us. But, um, one of the great things about this watch
is that this one still has the Geneva hallmark. So the movement in this one is the caliber two 15
PS that stands for petite seconds. So it's got the small seconds at six it's a hand wound mechanical.
And the Geneva hallmark for decades was the sign that a watch was an exquisite Swiss time piece
that was handmade, decorated all the right ways. I had all the right features. And when this watch
came out in 2004, it was part of those last generations of Patek Philippes with the Geneva
hallmark because in 2009 paddock went to their own Patek Philippe seal. So for a lot of people that
Geneva hallmark still has a lot of historic, nostalgic attraction. And so if I were going
to buy one of the paddock fleet watches in our inventory, I would certainly go with this one.
So look it up on our website, just type in 5196. You'll see what we have currently.
Hopefully this one's still in stock for you. Give us a call, click the bell,
like and subscribe and, call us to see which 5196 we might put on your wrist.