About this watch

Reference 5968G-001 puts the Aquanaut Chronograph into white gold, and it is the quieter of the two ways Patek Philippe has made this watch. The steel 5968A announces itself across a room; this one waits to be noticed, and the blue dial with its black-gradient rim is the detail that rewards the second look. The chronograph is a flyback, which matters more in the hand than it does on a specification sheet. A single press of the lower pusher resets and restarts the timing in one action, instead of the stop, reset, start sequence a conventional chronograph demands. Patek drives it through a vertical clutch rather than a lateral one, so the seconds hand sets off cleanly without the small stutter older architectures give you, and the balance keeps its amplitude while the chronograph runs. White gold changes the argument. The embossed Aquanaut grid reads deep blue at the centre and nearly black at the rim, and against a case that reflects colder than steel the whole watch tightens up rather than softens. The midnight blue composite strap keeps the sports-watch logic honest, and the fold-over clasp is white gold on four independent catches. Calibre CH 28-520 C, self-winding, 308 parts…