Lange is nice. I have handled a few pieces.
Adam I don't think 5170 is a copy of dato. Dato > 5170 for me. I think 5170 is a new version of 5070. For the chrono to get is the 5070. That's the end game for manual wind chrono for me.
with 5196 - yes this is sloppy, totally agree. This is reflected in the price. Also I would like to point out some of their white gold calatrava are rhodium plated. Beware of this. I witness a dealer try to polish a patek 6000g. It was a disaster. The piece had to be sent to patek service center for refinishing.
For calatrava have to get the auto movements - my preference would be the ones with a clean dial and auto movement and definitely not plated white gold ones. Careful the white gold pateks ! always make sure its not the plated version.
This is from Hodinkee:
The depth, the angles, the architecture, that balance cock! What we saw in 1999 was the first completely new, built-from-the-ground-up, in-house, manually wound chronograph in a generation, and absolutely the very first to be aimed squarely at the very high end. Keep in mind, the Datograph was launched just one year after Patek introduced the 5070, its first chronograph in 35 years, which used a caliber that was already 56 years old – though admittedly, Patek's modification of the 2310 is so comprehensive, many trained watchmakers I've asked say it does these watches a disservice to question their origins as anything but truly high-end. Still, at the core of it, the 5070 used the same movement as what was, at the time, a $1,500 Speedmaster.
It was clear that Lange had thrown down the gauntlet and it was up to the Swiss to respond – it took some time but Patek fired back with not only the caliber we see here in the 5170, but also those ultra-thin, mono-pusher movements we find in the mid-six-figure watches like the 5950A. Vacheron took a little longer to respond, but when it did, we all took notice. The launch, in 2014, of the Harmony caliber 3300 featured here, and the amazing self-winding, ultra-thin, mono-pusher split seconds chronograph, leveled the playing field with Patek and Lange, and that is why were are here today – to compare the absolute finest, in-house, manually wound chronographs on earth. Let's get down to it.
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I thought the 5070 uses the Lemania movement? Don't see why the 5070 is the grail. The 5170 is obviously not a 'copy' of the datograph, but it was Patek's response. It's an excellent watch... don't get me wrong.
I'm just hoping that Patek ups their game and creates more innovative movements, designs etc.
