Loathing
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2011
- Messages
- 1,350
- Reaction score
- 669
My only issue with the 3448, is the lugs are not my favorite. However, maybe their more compact and angular appearance works better with the look of the recessed crown. To me it's dial is so much more appealing than that of the 5396.
I do prefer the lugs of the 5396, but maybe its because those are generally the lugs I prefer on a Calatrava. However the dial is a big miss for me. I suppose it's nitpicking, but anything in that price range would need to be perfect for me to pull the trigger on it. The biggest fail for me is that date cutting into the subdial. It just pisses me off. It could have been a really nice nice, but not perfect dial, if they had nixed the 24 hour indicator, and put the date on the subdial. Also it appears as though the subdial is shifted so high that even when the hands are at 10 and 2 they obscure the 24. Sure we all know it's 24, but it seems inelegant and sloppy. While on the 3448, when the hands are at 10 and 2, one can still see most of the number 31 for the date. The minute markers and hour markers are fine, but I'm really preferring the more delicate ones on the 3448. To me they vintage version looks more elegant, although, I'm sure the minute markers are easier to read at a glance on the 5396. I'm also not a fan of how they decided to have a big bolder "Patek Philippe" name at the top, but separated Geneve from it with the day and month windows. Sure, I get that its marketing to have the name be the first thing you see, especially when someone posts it on social medial. But I prefer the smaller more discreet PP with Geneve under it, and its placement on the 3448. In addition, I know some people like a seconds hand, maybe it's generally preferred, but on a watch like this I don't need it. I like the clean look of no seconds hand on a dressy piece.
I agree with every single point you’ve made. The one point I would add is that the fonts are also nicer on the 3448 — slightly more refined and less computerised.
Cumulatively all those small differences make a watch that is poorly designed, for any watch, but especially when compared to the 3448.
There is a pattern with Patek where almost all of the current line up are worse versions of models from the archive. I don’t know how their design team works but it seems it has been institutionalised in a way that systemically leads to bad design outcomes. Perhaps management or the owners interfere in the process too much which stifles the designers? I can’t imagine any good designer actively making design decisions that essentially take an archive model and make it worse.