Category: Watches

The story surrounding the first perpetual calendar wristwatch is somewhat hazy, but the Patek Philippe replica watch is widely treated as to be one of, if not the first wristwatch to feature a perpetual calendar. Therefore, there’s something special when the fake Patek Philippe launches a new perpetual calendar watch. Besides, this was exactly what happened earlier this year at Baselworld 2017 when they declared the new Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar model, which is a little special because it adapts and combines traits of various vintage Patek Philippe perpetual calendar watches.

There’s something rather unique about wearing a perpetual calendar watch from Patek Philippe, or any perpetual calendar watch for that matter. It relieves its owners of the arduous task of having to adjust the watch to account for the inconsistencies of the number of days in a month. Helpfully, it also displays the current day and month, and also the date and phase of the moon. It is almost as if there is a microprocessor inside the watch.

Starting with the case, it is 40mm in diameter and done in white gold. I personally feel that 40mm really is the sweet spot, as far as I am concerned, and the replica Patek Philippe appears neither too bulky nor too dainty on the wrist. The case has many elements worth talking about and the design seems to have been influenced by the model perpetual calendar from the ’60s. For instance, the bezel and lugs are stepped, which adds more visual appeal to the case, and not to mention complexity in construction and finishing. The stepped lug concept, in particular, is an interesting touch that is seldom seen on new fake watches.

The construction of the entire case is also uncommon in that it is stamped from a block of white gold and then machined down and finally finished with a mixture of machine and hand-finishing. Stamping in metalworking is often thought of as a low-cost process, but the finalized product that we see here is as well constructed and finished as any other high-end fake Patek Philippe watch that I have seen. In fact, if I hadn’t volunteered this piece of information to you, you probably would never have known that the case was stamped.

The dial comes in a warm ivory cream color that I like very much. The color is rich and consistent throughout the dial, but it should be noted that it is lacquer and not enamel. The dial configuration is classic Patek Philippe replica: apertures for the day and month at 12 o’clock, a moon phase display, and a date sub-dial at 6 o’clock. To the right of the date sub-dial, you also have the leap year indicator, and to the left, you have a day/night indicator. All of the perpetual calendar indications are well-sized and easy to read at a glance.

It’s Friday, and our tradition is back: our vintage replica watch expert, Louis Westphalen and Bring a Loupe. Another Friday tradition is on hiatus this week: Friday Live is taking a long weekend as the H. Team is traveling far and wide, but we’ll be back next week.
Vintage Tag Heuer replicas got some headlines this week, including a fake Heuer Autavia at Christie’s. This example had a very coveted feature: an Indianapolis Motor Speedway logo on its dial; this is the very same logo found on the Heuer Carrera “Dato 45” highlighted in this article. And we show some more love to Heuer today, with a first execution Autavia model, and its characteristically large sub-registers. Modern watches are always remembered.
This fake watch presents those characteristics, and its serial numbers – found on the case and the Valjoux 72 movement, and both indicating production in late 1962 – match those characteristics. It comes with dauphine hands, the second execution after the full lume handset. Note that the seller indicates that the hands have been relumed, as was the lume triangle on the original bezel, but that the dial displays the proper radium lume. The case is described as unpolished; the lugs are indeed thick and well preserved. Lastly, the watch comes with the period-correct buckle, with the correct Sun stamp.
In general, original double-signed dials trade at a premium, as they make the watch rarer than the “standard” version, and give it even more historical cachet by indicating where it was originally sold. And with vintage Heuer watch, the rule definitely applies with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, among the rarest fake tag Heuer, as they were only sold through the local gift shop at the Indianapolis track.  
The present watch is the Tag Heuer Carrera watch, which is often called the “Dato 45” after the unusual placement of its date window at 9 o’clock (this corresponds to the second execution of the replica watch, the first having the date at 12 o’clock). Only a handful of the black executions have been unearthed, and this one might be the very best one judging from its outstanding condition, with an unpolished case and almost flawless dial. The watch even bears the original bracelet and replica Tag Heuer signed buckle. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway logo is beyond any doubt the sweetest part of this Heuer, placed just below the single chronograph counter.