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Tennis player Gaël Monfils spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Gaël Monfils, the French tennis star and perennial ATP top-ten fixture, was recently photographed wearing a Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Regulator in white gold, reference 5235G — a watch whose understated dial architecture masks one of the most technically singular movements Patek has ever produced for a self-winding wristwatch.

The 5235G debuted in 2011 as a genuine horological curiosity: a modern automatic wristwatch built around the regulator display, a format historically reserved for master clocks used to synchronize other instruments. On a regulator dial, the hours, minutes, and seconds are each shown on separate axes, eliminating the visual ambiguity of co-axial hands and offering a cleaner, more precise reading of time. Patek paired this display with its annual calendar complication — which correctly accounts for months of 30 and 31 days, needing only one manual correction per year, on March 1st. The movement, Caliber 31-260 REG QA, was developed exclusively for this reference and beats at 28,800 vph with a 45-hour power reserve. The white gold 38.5mm case houses all of this in a package that reads, at a glance, almost like a simple three-hand watch.

From a collector standpoint, the 5235G occupies a fascinating niche. In its early production years, output was so limited that the market widely assumed Patek had quietly discontinued it. That scarcity, combined with its intellectual seriousness, earned it a cult following among collectors who value mechanical substance over decorative complexity. It was officially succeeded in 2019 by the 5235/50G, which introduced a revised dial aesthetic and updated case finishing, making surviving 5235G examples increasingly sought after as the first-generation expression of this complication.

Monfils has long demonstrated a genuine interest in fine watchmaking, appearing at industry events and building a collection that leans toward technically sophisticated pieces rather than purely status-driven choices. His choice of the 5235G — a watch that Patek's own president, Thierry Stern, has cited as a personal favourite — suggests a collector's sensibility rather than celebrity optics.

The Patek Philippe 5235G carried an official retail price in the region of $58,000 USD at the time of its discontinuation. On the secondary market, white gold examples in excellent condition currently trade in the $65,000–$80,000 range, buoyed by first-generation scarcity and the model's retirement.