Horological Meandering

tony p
567

• Show profile
• Show other posts

In fairness to PP, my own Geneva Boutique experience was very different

...to Anon's.

Firstly, thanks SJX for the brilliant interview, and thanks especially to Anon for allowing us this marvellous tour of his collection and the candid insights into his collecting philosophy.

I'm sorry that Anon's experience at the Geneva Boutique was so frustrating, and I'm also disappointed that everyone seems to concur with his low opinion. Why? Because I visited the very same boutique in June of last year, and had a diametrically opposite experience - not only was I treated with more respect than I really deserved, but also they were happy for me to see and handle some of the rarest and most delightful treasures in the entire PP pantheon. Let me elaborate.

Three of us walked in unannounced late one weekday afternoon. One of our number was a PP collector who had actually purchased a Calatrava from the boutique a few days before. The salesman who had sold him that watch recognised him and came over. We were introduced. The other two of us are both PP owners, and I happened to have my 5111 on that day, so despite our very casual tourist attire, we were accepted as being genuine clients and not "tyre-kickers".

We spent some time wandering around the ground-floor displays, then I approached the same salesman with a view to purchasing a dark blue croco strap for my white gold 5111 (...many thanks to PuristS old-timer Max H for suggesting this combo!). This provided us with an excuse to pile into a little elevator and be ushered into the hallowed space of the Upstairs Gallery.

I was amazed to see what they had up there - a Sky-Moon Tourby, a quartet of Star Calibres, and a veritable phalanx of complicated wristpieces including some of Patek's most fabled references, all of course ensconced behind nuke-proof glass. I moved slowly from display to display, whistling softly between my teeth as each new treasure came into view. And here's where things started to get interesting...

Our man came back, full of apologies as he explained to me that they had no brand-new dark blue croc straps in stock - however, they did have one traded-in strap, very slightly used - would I be interested? Of course, I said, handing him my watch. A few moments later, it was again on my wrist, this time resplendent with as-new blue strap. What did I owe them, I enquired. Nothing, he said - please accept the strap with compliments of the PP Geneva Boutique! And would the kind Sirs be interested in viewing any of our display watches a little more closely?

Now, admittedly at that moment there was nobody else up there...downstairs wasn't that busy...and we had been reeling off the reference numbers for each piece as we spotted them in the displays. He could see we weren't a complete pack of chimpanzees. Maybe we just got lucky. Whatever...

I'd now like to share with you some of the simply extraordinary masterpieces which came out from behind the glass, one by one, for our visual and aural delectation:

First up, a ref. 5016 minute repeater tourbillon perpetual calendar with retrograde date in rose gold -





Note the simply gorgeous wheel with ogee spokes mounted high above the bridges from its own cock. A similar wheel is featured on the movement of the PP5013, which shares with its stablemate the same calibre R 27 PS QR (but without tourbillon), in a white gold tonneau case -



Both watches evinced clear-ringing, pure and confident tones from their gongs -



The exquisite workmanship of the 5016's movement was nearly (but not quite!) outshone by the extraordinary artistry of the PP5959 rattrapante monopoussoir chronograph, whose movement is the smallest of its type ever made -



And to see both watches side-by-side is indeed a rare treat, to which I have been privy only because of the incredible helpfulness of the Geneva Boutique's staff -



I didn't push my luck by asking to see the legendary Sky-Moon Tourbillon, but our man did share one more treasure with us. His final flourish was to procure this extraordinary watch from behind its protective glass -



While the dial-side styling is not really to my taste (and I notice that JLC have produced a very similar offering in their Master Perpetual Skeleton, which I have elsewhere likened to the bottom of my toolbox), one has to admit that the workmanship is pretty tasty -



and the casework and decoration of the movement are incredibly attractive - note the design elements of the caseband, matched on the microrotor, and echoing the shape of the watch's hands -



I might add that, like the 5016 and 5013, this watch had a superb chime.

Really I feel it was above and beyond the call of duty for PP to show us ordinary folk these masterpieces - and not just show them, but activate their chimes, individually and then in series for comparison purposes, and finally, to patiently let me set up my camera and photograph them all. I hope that by posting this reply I can repay the favour to some extent, both by sharing these glorious beauties with you all, and also by balancing the negative vibes found higher in this thread with some positive ones.

Kudos to PP and I hope they read this, so that they are reassured that occasionally it is the right decision to let people handle their haute de gamme pieces a little more closely.

Cheers
Tony P

Site Info.