quattro's detailed exploration of the Patek Philippe Ref. 5249R-001, a standout from Watches & Wonders, offers an intimate look at a timepiece deeply rooted in Patek Philippe's heritage. His post highlights the watch's direct inspiration from a 1958 Louis Cottier pocket watch, bringing historical context to this contemporary marvel. Readers gain insight into the intricate design and the fable that influenced its unique on-demand hour and minute display with automaton.
Without a single doubt, my favorite watch from this edition of Watches & Wonders is the Patek Philippe with on-demand hour and minute display with automaton ref. 5249R-001.
It is directly inspired by the pocket watch ref. 784 designed by Louis Cottier in 1958 and based on Jean de La Fontaine's fable, The Crow and the Fox , in which the fox flatters the crow so that it starts to caw and inadvertently drops the cheese it is holding in its beak.
The lesson of the fable is as follows: “Flatterers thrive on fools’ credulity”.
This
pocket watch is
on display at the
Patek Philippe Museum, Inv. P-109...
... along with
other timepieces also made
by or in
collaboration with
Louis Cottier.
Note that
last August, I had of course
included this
watch in my
thread dedicated to
"Bras-en-l'air" pocket watches, of which it is a variation.
And it is precisely
described in the
museum's catalogue:
The 18k rose gold dial features an opaline finish and a matara brown color.
The hour is indicated by the fox's paw (1 to 6?) or snout (7 to 12?), whereas minutes are indicated by the cheese-tipped hand which, at rest, stays in the crow's beak.
The applied “fox” and “crow” are highlighted with contrasting colors and set against hand-engraved foliage decorations in gold.
At 6 o’clock sits a decorative star-shaped small seconds set with a diamond at its center, indicating that the movement is running.
The hour and minute scales, as well as the Patek Philippe cartouche are in rhodium-plated yellow gold, with black transferred numerals and logo.
The 43 x 11.5 mm “Officer” style rose gold case is fully polished with sapphire crystal caseback protected by a dust cover with an invisible hinge.
The crown is turban-style and the on demand retrograde indication of hours and minutes is activated by the pusher at 2 o’clock.
The watch is powered by
automatic caliber 31-260 PS HMD AU, which features a
platinum off-center
minirotor.
Rear view
Under the dial view
The closed
officer-style caseback.
Shiny chocolate brown alligator leather strap, with rose gold patented triple-blade fold-over clasp.
After this brief
presentation, here are the
first real photos of the
watch as it is
displayed at
Watches & Wonder: they have been made and posted by
Watchmania &
Pedro Pastor aka
@repeticiondeminutos:
Of course, the
original pocket watch has momentarily
left the
museum to be
exhibited as well.
credit: @watchmania (1) & @repeticiondeminutos
To conclude this post, I would like to add the fable by Jean de la Fontaine, both in French and in English:
What do you think about this watch?
Do you
share my
enthusiasm or
not that much?
There are only two things I personally would like to be different:
- I would prefer a manual movement, not an automatic one, like in the original pocket watch.
- I would prefer the brand name (the cartouche) to be absent from the dial, again, as on the original pocket watch.
Thanks for reading.
Best, Emmanuel
