15500ST and 5402ST: my newest and my oldest RO

[GeraldGentaFan]

On the Patek forum, I recently showed some pictures comparing the original Nautilus 3700 to the recent 5711 variant.

Now that I just got the most recent RO 15500ST, I thought it would be a good idea to to the same for the original 5402ST A series. Here some pics of both watches on my wrist. Both beauties but the original is hard to beat imo, despite the fact that the blue on the 15500ST is much stronger.





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[AK797]

Very nice pics of the different generations.

[illini675]

Wow, very cool to see next to each other! Amazing how grey the original 5402 dial looks in certain lights, especially in direct comparison to the modern blue dials. Thanks for sharing!

[GeraldGentaFan]

Originally Posted by illini675

Wow, very cool to see next to each other! Amazing how grey the original 5402 dial looks in certain lights, especially in direct comparison to the modern blue dials. Thanks for sharing!

Indeed. My 5402 is from 1972, one of the first ROs produced, so by now 47 years old. Could very well be that the original dial colour was more blue than grey, but today definitely more grey than blue.

[GB-man]

Nice thank you for sharing

[tcheeco]

Both great, enjoy them

[HK Islandboy]

Beautiful!

[DGB]

Would love to hear your impressions on both,
Quality built, how does it feel on your wrist, clasp, bracelet etc...
Probably same as an old vs a new Rolex , New is better in every way, but old beats it all the way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Batmannr1]

Stunning pieces. The original is unbeatable, but the 15500ST is a worthy successor in the RO family. Wear them in good health.

[nick c]

Well done. Congratulations

[GeraldGentaFan]

Originally Posted by DGB

Would love to hear your impressions on both,
Quality built, how does it feel on your wrist, clasp, bracelet etc...
Probably same as an old vs a new Rolex , New is better in every way, but old beats it all the way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The 5402-15500 comparison is a bit unfair as the true successor to the 5402 is the 15202. And 15202 and 5402 are not that different. The 15202 has basically the same case, bezel and movement as the 5402, and it still does not have a quickset date. Modern Rolexes have completely different cases, bezels and movements than their vintage equivalents.

The 15500 is a different animal, obviously with a modern movement. But the bracelet hasn’t changed much, probably because it was already fantastic from the start in 1972. But I am disappointed that the 15500 doesn’t have an easy way to micro-adjust the bracelet like modern Rolexes or the 3rd gen Overseas. Fine to keep the 15202 very much like the original RO, but the 15500 should have all the modern gimmicks imo.

Also, I am not a fan of the clasp of the 15500. You have to close the 6h side first before you can close the 12h side. I prefer either the older but simple system of the 5402, or the modern deployant of the 5740 where it doesn’t matter which side you close first.

I can imagine if you have a 17cm wrist or bigger, the 15500 is just a better size. For my smaller wrist, the 39mm ROs are perfect. I can still wear the 41mm models, but they feel slightly big too me. I also like thin watches, so my preference overall goes to 5402 or 15202 vs 15500. But the 15500 remains a beautiful watch and I am happy to have it in my collection!

[GeraldGentaFan]

Here some more pictures to illustrate my previous post:

Some pics comparing 15202 (white dial) with 5402:


Here one more pic comparing case thickness of 15500 with 5402:


And here the clasp of the 15500 that I don’t particularly like:



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Muxi]

Beautiful collection. Thanks for the information and pictures.

[Tluwin]

Very beautiful. Thanks for sharing!!

[blacke90]

Originally Posted by GeraldGentaFan

And here the clasp of the 15500 that I don’t particularly like:



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I actually prefer the newer style clasp than the older one. It feels studier.

[DGB]

Originally Posted by GeraldGentaFan

The 5402-15500 comparison is a bit unfair as the true successor to the 5402 is the 15202. And 15202 and 5402 are not that different. The 15202 has basically the same case, bezel and movement as the 5402, and it still does not have a quickset date. Modern Rolexes have completely different cases, bezels and movements than their vintage equivalents.



The 15500 is a different animal, obviously with a modern movement. But the bracelet hasn’t changed much, probably because it was already fantastic from the start in 1972. But I am disappointed that the 15500 doesn’t have an easy way to micro-adjust the bracelet like modern Rolexes or the 3rd gen Overseas. Fine to keep the 15202 very much like the original RO, but the 15500 should have all the modern gimmicks imo.



Also, I am not a fan of the clasp of the 15500. You have to close the 6h side first before you can close the 12h side. I prefer either the older but simple system of the 5402, or the modern deployant of the 5740 where it doesn’t matter which side you close first.



I can imagine if you have a 17cm wrist or bigger, the 15500 is just a better size. For my smaller wrist, the 39mm ROs are perfect. I can still wear the 41mm models, but they feel slightly big too me. I also like thin watches, so my preference overall goes to 5402 or 15202 vs 15500. But the 15500 remains a beautiful watch and I am happy to have it in my collection!

Gee, great analysis, thanks for that.
My heart would go for the old one.
Great shots by the way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk