One point six one eight to one: The Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse

I think that the Golden Ellipse is the most overlooked Patek Philippe model. It is also unfortunately one of my favourites.

I only learnt of it when I watched a video on watches of different world leaders (for the life of me, I cannot remember which video it was or who uploaded it) and the Ellipse appeared on the wrist of Donald Trump. I was instantly drawn to the watch with its rather diminutive proportions and gold construction. It looked like a women's watch, but it exuded nothing but class and elegance simultaneously.

I know @Justingalore owns one, which is the only one I've seen on WatchCrunch.

Patek Philippe is best known for their insane complications, which (hot take incoming) I don't really like. The engineer/scientist in me drools over the mechanics of it all, but the other part of me (the one with eyes) hates thickness. To me, thickness belongs on a sports watch and the hips of my "grail" woman, not on a dress watch. All the extra components take up space, which has to go somewhere. That's another reason I like the Ellipse. 5,9mm tall. That's anorexic. It seems to have gone on a similar diet to Piaget.

It's also not complicated (relatively speaking, of course.) Patek doesn't even give you a seconds hand, let alone a date; the principle of "less is more" has been executed perfectly here. I have a soft spot for micro-rotors too. The rose gold version is also the only watch in rose gold that appeals to my eyes. Rose gold is one of my pet peeves, but the Ellipse 5738R-001 is just yellow enough to keep me sane.

The platinum model with the blue dial is my favourite.

I'm writing a love letter to a watch I cannot afford and won't buy even if I had the money. It ranks maybe third or fourth in my list of grails.

By an incredible stroke of luck, I got into a Patek Philippe AD today. I was close to ending this write-up with a conclusion tacked on to the previous paragraph and publishing it yesterday, but laziness and the feeling of not writing the best column I could stopped me. It was one of the few trips made to the city, where I accompanied my dad to a Harley-Davidson dealership. After an hour there, I suggested going to a mall half an hour away. It was still early and neither of us had anything to do back at home. That mall was the Sandton City mall. Sandton is like the New York of South Africa, comprising a concrete jungle populated by some of the wealthiest people and some of the best posers; people who think they're a 747 but are closer to a used Cessna. Neither of us were dressed for the occasion. I originally planned to visit one fairly basic boutique that stocked mainly Seiko and Tissot, until I saw the Calatrava cross on the mall's website. We wandered around for half an hour using Google maps to find the store (there was not an info desk in sight) until we arrived at the Diamond something. I forgot what it was, but it's the name of the block where all the high-end watch and jewellery shops sit.Two security guards were in front of the Patek AD. I asked if I needed an appointment, they said no, and I walked in. I never intended to try anything on; I simply wanted to ask someone about the sales of the Ellipse. It was great that I didn't want to try anything on, because there was absolutely nothing. Everything was for display purposes only, bar one watch that was reserved.

How many do they sell a year? Two or three. Demand for Pateks is likely not the highest in South Africa, but damn, that's low for the only AD. While demand may not be the highest, it certainly outstrips supply. Patek holds some of the blame here, because they only allocate this AD two or three a year. They could sell more if there were more available, but something in me says that these potential buyers want the Patek name more than anything else; if the AD were allocated more Nautiluses (or Nautili,) they would sell more Nautiluses/Nautili. I think many Ellipse buyers own one because they would have settled for any Patek and that one was the one in stock. Looking at the Ellipse, I think some more appreciation is needed. Ellipse: underrated dress watch or best-left-forgotten women's watch for men? You be the judge.