The reference 5070 was introduced in 1998 and is believed to have been inspired by the Ref. 2512, a split-seconds chronograph from the 1950s. A historically-significant wristwatch, this was the first manual-winding chronograph (sans perpetual calendar) produced in series by the Patek Philippe since the Ref. 1463 in the 1960s.

The first series was cased in yellow gold, then white gold in 2001 followed by pink gold (2003) and finally, platinum in 2008. Each version of the case material was made in approximately 1,000 examples, except platinum of which only about 500 examples were made. At 42 mm. wide, the Ref. 5070 is one of the bigger watches (in terms of case size) ever produced by Patek Philippe.

Discontinued in 2009, the reference 5070 was the last of the classic Lemania-powered manually-wound two register chronographs from Patek Philippe. This reference was replaced by the Ref. 5170J, the brand’s first chronograph with an in-house manual-wound Cal. CH 29-535 PS.