Patek Philippe "Ladies First Chronograph" Ref. 70171R Watch

Patek Philippe has asserted a new found dedication to women's watches. As such, this new "Ladies First Chronograph" is a completely new type of direction for them when it comes to making watches for women. What is different? Well, for one, it isn't a jewelry piece. It is haute horology at its finest, but in a package for a modern sophisticated woman. It is handsome and mature, not girly and cute. For some, the design has missed the mark. They feel it is perhaps too retro and odd in design. That may be, but you can't deny the incredible legibility and uniqueness of the look. The cushion shaped case is 39mm wide (big for a women's watch) in 18krose gold, while the entire watch is meant to be a testament to classic French Art Deco design aesthetics.

The name of the watch itself is a shout to manners and respect. "By all means madam, ladies first..." It places women's watches on the same step as men's watches, especially in terms of functionality. It is often the case that women's watches house quartz movements. Not here. The Ladies First has an in-house made Patek Philippe manually wound chronograph movement. Above that, the movement is the brand new Caliber 29-535, and can be seen beautifully displayed in the caseback.

I find that there are a growing number of women who appreciate not only fine design, but also traditional watch mechanics. For those women, they can appreciate the high-end features of the chronograph movement such as a special system to ensure a high power reserve of almost 70 hours, a hack seconds function when resetting the time, and a special design to make this new movement appear much like how movements in the 1930s were presented.

No high luxury women's watch would be complete without a requisite number of diamonds. As such, the round dial is surrounded with a buffer zone of 136 diamonds between it and the cushion shaped bezel of the case. The watch dial comes in black or white, with various reptile strap colors. Price is heavy at 51,000 euros. But hey, it is a Patek Philippe.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.