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The New Patek Golden Ellipse 5738/1R Brings Back A Classic Gold On Gold Configuration

The Golden Ellipse is an enduring classic, but the addition of an updated chain bracelet brings its past alive.

Jack Forster6 Min ReadApr 12 2024

Patek Philippe introduced eleven new models at Watches & Wonders 2024, so there is as you might expect, a great deal to talk about, including the introduction of the local date World Time ref. 5330G-001 – a world first for Patek, which was originally introduced in Tokyo in 2023. One of the most spectacular launches, though – and one which, I may as well say, is a personal favorite and probably the one watch out of the entire show which I’d take home if price were no object, is the new Golden Ellipse ref. 5738/1R, which is being released with an extremely intricate and very beautiful gold chain bracelet.

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Gold mesh and chain bracelets and the Golden Ellipse go back a long way – all the way back to the very first Golden Ellipse, which was released in 1968 as the ref. 3548. Such bracelets if they are finely made, are almost unbelievably supple and if you have never had an opportunity to try one one – which is not all that easy to do as their complexity and the fact that they are made by hand, makes them both expensive and unusual – it is a revelation to feel one on the wrist. Such bracelets were introduced in a number of Golden Ellipse models in the years following the model’s introduction, including the references 3582 (1970) and the 3748, and 3605, in 1974.

The Golden Ellipse name is purely descriptive in one sense – the shape of the case is elliptical (although not exactly, about which more in a minute). It is also, however, a reflection of the inspiration for the case shape, which was the famous Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio has a fairly simple definition. A line divided into two segments has those segments in the Golden Ratio to each other if the ratio of the longer segment to the smaller segment is the same as the ratio of the longer segment to the entire line; the ratio is an irrational number, but it’s approximately 1.618. You can construct a series of rectangles from such segments, and inscribe inside them a logarithmic spiral, which grows by the Golden Ratio for every quarter turn it makes.

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Such spirals, or very close approximations to them, are found frequently in the natural world in places as diverse as the shells of marine mollusks, and the seed heads of flowers. The Golden Ellipse was originally designed, in something of a departure from the usual practice at the time of soliciting designs from casemakers, internally at Patek Philippe, by Jean-Daniel Rubeli, Patek’s stylist at the time, although it’s worth noting that there are other possible origin stories for the Golden Ellipse. It is sometimes said that Gérald Genta designed the Golden Ellipse but this appears to be a bit of an urban legend, albeit a persistent one (like the misconception, widely repeated, and definitively debunked, that English illustrator David Penney designed the reference 96 Calatrava – an impossibility as when the ref. 96 was launched Penney hadn’t been born yet).

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The Golden Ellipse may indeed have been inspired by the Golden Ratio, although the case proportions are not quite within the precise mathematical definition of the Golden Ratio of 1.618. There have been subtle variations in the case shape over the years; the 1968 3548 had a 32mm x 27mm case, for a ratio of 1.185; the 3739/2, in 1977, retained (as all Golden Ellipses do) the gently curved, ovoid shape but at 36.4mm x34.4mm the case height and width have an almost 1:1 ratio, at 1.058. And the newly introduced 5738/1R has, like its current stablemates, a 39.5mm x 34.5mm case, for a ratio of 1.144. The Golden Ellipse is also not, strictly speaking, elliptical as ellipses are conic sections (the circle is a special case of an ellipse, at least from a mathematician’s perspective, in which the two foci coincide)

The movement is Patek’s in-house, extra flat self winding caliber 240, which was introduced to the Golden Ellipse line in 1977, in the ref. 3738. The movement has as the saying goes, aged like fine wine and it remains one of the finest self winding movements ever made.

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Extra flat movements offer less depth for the demonstration of fine finishing but given those constraints, the caliber 240 is a beautiful piece of work. Every component has been carefully finished, including the polished, domed tops of the steady pins holding the balance cock in place. The dial side of the movement shows the same level of care as the back.

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All jewels are in mirror polished countersinks on both sides of the caliber; the three steady pins for the balance cock are domed and mirror polished on this side as well; the entire plate is decorated with perlage, deployed in precisely overlapping circles, and the keyless works for winding and setting are exemplary – the steelwork is straight grained and polished, in a group of components which can sometimes receive perfunctory treatment, which is certainly not the case in the caliber 240.

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One of the challenges of mesh bracelets, historically, is that they cannot be resized – this is an issue that Patek has addressed in the new Golden Ellipse mesh bracelet, which has three possible positions.

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The 5738/1R is certainly an homage to the history of the Golden Ellipse – thanks to the retention of the same basic case proportions across the years since 1968, every Golden Ellipse is. This new version brings a classic configuration very gracefully back to Patek’s Golden Ellipse collection (the bracelet, with its three position clasp and extremely complex construction, may be the most elaborate Patek has ever used, which is saying something). Although the case dimensions may not conform exactly to the definition of the Golden Ratio or the precise definition of an ellipse, in the end, this matters less than its organically pleasing tactile and visual qualities – rather than adhering strictly to an abstract mathematical formula, the Golden Ellipse is ultimately its own thing, with its own, unique identity.

The Patek Philippe ref. 5738/1R-001: case, 39.5 x 34.5mm x 5.9mm, rose gold, with fully polished rose gold chain-style bracelet with 363 elements total; more than 300 links mounted by hand. Engraved fold-over clasp with three adjustment positions. Movement, self winding caliber 240, 27.5mm x 2.53mm, running in 27 jewels at 21,600 vph; power reserve, 48 hourse. Spiromax balance spring; 22k gold minirotor. Price, $51,000; find out more at Patek.com