BASELWORLD 2019 NOTABLES
D
ESPITE MANY NEGATIVE PREDICTIONS,
Baselworld 2019 retained its place a premier
location to debut new watches. There were just many
fewer brands showing off their wares this past March,
and those that did are aware that the historic watch
show model is in the midst of an often-painful adjust-
ment period.
But for many attendees, the ease of navigating a
show with fewer crowds and lowered expectations was
a comfortable flip side to what has sometimes been
seen as an over hyped sales event. In this environment,
watches could be more closely examined and discus-
sions extended beyond the usual specs-and-price
boilerplates.
Will the plan to combine the time frames of SIHH and
Baselworld next year in late April resolve the issue of
watch debut show relevance in the digital age? We’ll
see next year, but until then, below we’ve assembled a
rundown of some of the most interesting watches we
saw during the most recent Baselworld.
PATEK PHILIPPE
Calatrava Weekly Calendar (ref. 5212-A)
Though far from the only standout in a very strong set
of 2019 Patek Philippe debuts, this watch seemed to
arrive from left field. The whimsical Patek Philippe dial
is marked from top to bottom with a dial font based on
a designer’s handwriting. What’s more, underneath the
silver opaline dial Patek Philippe unveils an entirely new
caliber ((26-330 S C J SE), a semi-integrated mechanism
displaying the current week number, the day and the
date, set when needed using correctors at 8 o’clock and
10 o’clock. Oh, did I mention the 40mm case is steel, not
Patek Philippe’s go-to case material. Indeed, with all
these unusual attributes, and given that the watch is now
the only steel model (though, not a limited edition) within
the Calatrava collection, expect a line at the showcase.
You’ll be paying $29,500.
66 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SUMMER 2019
BY MICHAEL THOMPSON