The Patek Philippe reference 5960 was introduced in 2006 as the first model to feature the combination of the firm’s inaugural in-house self-winding chronograph and the annual calendar complication. Variations in platinum, then white and pink gold were produced before 2014, when a stainless steel – a rare metal for Patek Philippe to use – iteration was introduced. Coupled with a beads-of-rice style bracelet, it was first produced with a white dial, and then in 2017, with a black dial for only one year. This exclusivity makes it one of the most coveted versions of Patek’s annual calendar chronographs.

Flip the watch over and one is invited to admire the in-house automatic calibre CH 28-520 IRM QA 24H in action through the sapphire caseback. It is a flyback column-wheel chronograph movement fitted with a unidirectional 21K gold rotor, delivering a frequency of 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour. It boasts a remarkable technical innovation which enables the clamps to act on a disk clutch that transmits or interrupts the power between the fourth wheel and the chronograph hand, thus making it possible to use the chronograph hand as a continuously running seconds hand without affecting the watch’s accuracy. For this reason, the subsidiary seconds dial traditionally found on the classic Patek Philippe column-wheel chronographs is not needed.

Presented in exceptional overall condition, and offered with its full set of original accessories, the present lot is the perfect addition to the collection of any modern connoisseur.