I encourage you to inspect the dial closely as many of the minor details are impressive. This happens to be one of the Patek Philippe watches that has lume on the dial. There are points of lume at each hour on the outer minute scale as well as luminant in the hour and minutes hands. I am also particularly enthused by the design of the applied and faceted hour markers.

It isn’t easy to spot the 5960/1A as being a watch in steel unless you know exactly what it is. The intense level of mirror polishing applied to the case and bracelet is not surprising given the Patek Philippe name on the dial, but compared to many steel cases it looks like white gold. You’ll find that many steel watches today are contrast finished with surfaces that are both polished and brushed. For the 5960/1A Patek Philippe decides to go purely classic and traditional with an entirely polished case. It is further the fact that the five-link steel bracelet augments the sportiness of the design and adds a character to the watch that would be missing were it merely matched to a standard strap.

Inside the watch is Patek Philippe in-house made and long-named caliber CH 28-520 IRM QA 24H automatic movement. Visible through the rear of the case this movement has many of Patek Philippe’s most modern features including a Gyromax balance wheel and a Spiromax hairspring. Operating at a frequency of 28,800 bph (4 Hz), the movement performs at well within chronometric performance. It also happens to be made up of 456 parts that includes both the base movement as well as the calendar module. Not that the base movement includes an integrated chronograph and that the automatic rotor is in 21k gold.

Functionally the 5960/1A watch does a lot. The dial is arguably deceptively simple given the seven or so distinct features offered in this timepiece. In addition to the time it has a full 12 hour chronograph that uses the subsidiary dial with two hands, an annual calendar with separate windows for the date, month, and day of the week, a day/night indicator in the form of a small window with a white or blue color, and a power reserve indicator (overall power reserve of between 45-55 hours).  There are inset pushers on the side of the case to adjust the calendar information.

Overall the 2014 Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Chronograph 5960/1A watch is a really lovely treat if you are in the market for a new Patek Philippe that is both complicate and versatile. Though despite its steel status the watch is still a Patek and priced as such. Further, given that this is not one of the more standard models I don’t anticipate availability being that high either. Price is $54,800. patek.com