PATEK PHILIPPE - a gentleman's Perpetual Calendar wrist watch. Reference 5940 P, serial 2958621. Signed automatic calibre 240 Q, numbered 775743. Silvered dial with Arabic numeral hour markers, subsidiary dual dials consisting of month and leap year, date and moon phases and day of the week and twenty-four hour indicators to three, nine and twelve respectively. Platinum case fitted to an authentic black alligator strap with 18ct white gold deployant clasp. 36mm. Box.

Holding the rare distinction of being a deeply rooted horological watch house and household name, the self-winding Perpetual Calendar has ranked among Patek Philippe's most popular complicated watches for many years.

In the category of grand complications, which includes tourbillons, minute repeaters, or split-seconds chronographs, the perpetual calendar unquestionably offers the greatest everyday utlilty, always indicating the correct date by taking into account different durations of the months. Perpetual calendars were coveted complications in Patek Philippe pocket watches dating back to the 19th century. So when wristwatches became fashionable, the manufacture in Geneva was the first to miniaturise the ingenious calendar mechanism allowing it to fit into cases for the wrist.

With the Ref. 5040 P, Patek Philippe opens up a new chapter in perpetual calendar with the revival of the cushion-shaped case that looks as topical today as the 1920s and 1930s Art Deco showpieces in the Patek Philippe Museum that inspired it.