This is our series: Same or Different. Understanding by Comparing.

What is the difference between a Patek ref5711 steel and a ref3587 white gold? There are many similarities: the look and blue / white metal combination, integrated bracelet, three hands and a date window. Yes.

But there are many differences, and they are listed here. The most essential difference is outlined at the end -- so when you want to sneak, skip all others and check the last point.

• automatic vs first quartz caliber;
• steel vs gold;
• water-resistant vs afraid of water;
• machine-made vs hand-made case;
• machine-made vs hand-made bracelet;
• even the quartz bar was hand-cut and adjusted in the Beta21;
• produced in thousands vs dozens;
• produced today vs 50 years ago;
• almost always wrong vs correct time;
• to get one, is a question of price vs a question of existence and availability;

Yes, that is the essential difference: You can buy 300 ref5711 right away, to succeed is just a question of price. You will get them in 48 hours and when you have a week more time, then you can have 1'000 of them easily -- it is purely a question of price.

With ref3587 white gold / blue dial it is a completely different story: getting 3 in one week -- regardless of price and condition -- will be difficult and searching for 10 will be unsuccessful even after two years and unlimited money, I guess.

See the other parts in this series here: #SameOrDifferent