Patek Calatrava - Fantasy Model?

[calatrava]

I have been looking for a source to purchase a high quality rep of the Patek Calatrava 5127:

but have not been very successful. If someone could point me in the right direction, that would be very helpful.

Most of the reps I've seen do a poor job with the date window, or add the word "AUTOMATIC" to the dial.

I wanted to ask for opinions about some of the options I've found. In particular, the first two have the hobnail bezel instead of the smooth bezel, do there correspond to some historical Pateks? The third one on a metal bracelet looks like a reasonable fit, except that the date window is too far from the edge. And the last one might be a fantasy model, since I've never seen that case with a 2 hand design, only with the small seconds hand at 6 o'clock.

At the moment, I am a bit unsure about which one to pick, but am somewhat leaning to the last one, since it has such a simple, clean, and elegant design, which to me is the essence of the Patek Calatrava... even if they don't actually have one like this model. To me, it seems most evocative of the 5196:

except that it does not have the small seconds hand at 6 o'clock.

Edited August 11, 2010 by calatrava

[chrgod]

Hi, and welcome to RWG.

I am not familiar with all the Patek Philippe replicas, but share your enthusiasm for the simple, elegant style of their models.

A good place for a search would be the 709 models at Watcheden.com. They have 56 Calatrava models.: Watcheden-Patek

Have bought a couple of watches from Watcheden (although not recently) and have been very satisfied. Be aware of the cupon code listed in upper right corner, to get 20USD off!

I like the humble Golden Eclipse-model.. But I have not bought one.

Good luck, and post your results!

[calatrava]

Hi, and welcome to RWG.

I am not familiar with all the Patek Philippe replicas, but share your enthusiasm for the simple, elegant style of their models.

A good place for a search would be the 709 models at Watcheden.com. They have 56 Calatrava models.: Watcheden-Patek

Have bought a couple of watches from Watcheden (although not recently) and have been very satisfied. Be aware of the cupon code listed in upper right corner, to get 20USD off!

I like the humble Golden Eclipse-model.. But I have not bought one.

Good luck, and post your results!

Thanks for the pointer to the $20 coupon, I would have missed it otherwise.

Before stumbling onto this forum, I purchased a replica of the Patek Calatrava 3919, with an asian mechanical movement. This cost about $40 and another $20 for shipping from TaoBao, the chinese equivalent of eBay. Pictures are attached.

I would still very much like something which looks like the 5127 however.

Edited August 12, 2010 by calatrava

[StormTooper4]

I will be wearing mine to a Black tie event this Saturday

[Basil Ransom]

I too am looking for a Calatrava replica. Should I post a separate thread asking for help? I'm looking for a Calatrava with Roman Numeral lettering without second markings, in gold or rose gold, and ideally gold or silver lettering on black dial, or otherwise a black font on a white dial. A Longines Grande Classique like this would also be acceptable. I wouldn't mind if the watch did not say Patek or Longines on it, so long as it fit my criteria. I used to own a Seiko SKP330, which is similar to these watches in appearance.

I found the above on a bunch of scam replica sites, and it's very close to ideal. But I haven't been able to locate it on any of the collector sites mentioned in the links. That's the Roman Numeral font I want. I'd really like to find the watch pictured above on a legitimate site. If there were one, I'd like it without the seconds dial in the lower half.

I have also been looking at these:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

That last one is a watch someone advertised for sale on a forum. Not available, but close to what I have in mind.

The Longines comes closest to my ideal, but the hands on it are not to my liking (ahem, ugly). My fantasy watch would look like the Longines with a black dial and gold lettering and no seconds dial, seconds hand or brand marking, and the hands of the Calatrava.

[calatrava]

So, I just received my replica of the Patek 5127. It was the one with the metal bracelet which I showed in my first post, but I replaced the bracelet with a nice genuine crocodile strap, and while the date location is still a bit off, it does look quite credible, at least from the front. I would be interested in hearing what other forum members think of it.

For comparison, the last photo is that of the real Patek 5127.

Edited September 2, 2010 by calatrava

[jaydealston]

Hi All,

Thanks for your discussion...really nice picture you share here.

I have been thinking about the patek philippe 24 watch for a while, don't own any other "very" nice watches.