Patek Philippe

Pre-Baselworld, everybody is waiting impatiently to see the novelties of the year. This year it was the first show inside the new building from Herzog & de Meuron (world famous architects from Basel) and that was a “novelty” on top.

The Patek Philippe booth is still in the main hall, but lots of things (brands, places …) have changed and most of the brands had a new (even more impressive than ever before) booth. Patek decided to stay with the “old” booth and will have something new for their 175 Anniversary, next year.

For most of the people visiting the fair, the door inside “the holy booth” is closed. To see the novelties from Patek Philippe (& more), they (only) have the possibility to do some kind of “window shopping”.

This year it was allowed to take pictures from outside and I think it was much more relaxed for the security people

With your eyes, camera, iPhone … you could catch pictures like this:

I didn´t take pictures of everything, but wanted to show some pieces that caught my attention. The well balanced collection shown is impressive, like it was in the years before.

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith", that´s all you will see. (Just kidding )

For all the PuristS which never get enough, we will have a look more in detail - several parts.

In the past there was a lot of talk about new grand complications, new movements, new technologies … or to make it short – inner values.

For 2013 Patek Philippe decided to focus on different professions. Outstanding artisanal skills are needed to elevate the inimitable aesthetic grace of Patek Philippe watches to the highest levels of perfection.

Exclusive cases, elaborate dials and opulently fashioned clasps are in focus this year. But of course PP would not be PP if there wouldn´t be at least one new movement and that is shown in the Ref. 5200 - more on this later.

Rigorous geometry and pure lines of modernism, characteristic design features of the Art Deco movement, are recognizable in the Gondolo collection, inspired by classic models from the 1930s.

Ref. 5200G

8 Days, Day & Date Indication and a manual winding movement. Nice features for the connoisseur, but there is more.

For this model, the Genevan workshops developed a new caliber that in many respects is reminiscent of the Ref. 5100 “10-Day”, presented 13 years ago to welcome the new millennium.

Unlike the 5100, however, the new Gondolo contains innovative Silinvar components from the “Patek Philippe Advanced Research” think tank for which the manufacture has been granted numerous patents in the past years. The result is a fetching form movement with a genuine 8-day power-reserve display. Its date by hand and large aperture for the day of the week – both instantaneously switching. The caliber is accommodated in an anatomically curved rectangular case that celebrates the Art Deco style.

The rectangular caliber 28-20 REC 8J PS IRM C J form movement enriches the Patek Philippe collection of currently produced manually wound movements. It was developed explicitly for the Ref. 5200; in twin in-line barrels, it stores the power needed to guarantee that it will run non-stop for 192 hours. This doesn't mean that the watch will stand still then; instead, it has the power reserve required to safeguard the steady amplitude of the balance and its rate accuracy up to and including the eighth day.

Insiders will no doubt remember the Patek Philippe “10-Day” which had its debut in the year 2000 and delivered power for two additional days. The fact that the Ref. 5200 falls short by two days is associated with the date indication and the day aperture; advancing these calendar displays every day at midnight requires a lot of energy. This is remarkable especially because the calendar is an instantaneously switching mechanism in which the day and the date switch forward simultaneously at midnight, within three milliseconds – faster than the blink of an eye. In the process, the large disk of the prominent day-of-week display has to be advanced by one increment as well. Indeed, a power reserve of this magnitude is quite remarkable, given the eight lightning-fast calendar switching cycles. This applies all the more because when quantifying power reserve, Patek Philippe always factors in the energy needed for one further calendar switching cycle – for functional reliability reasons.

To a great extent, the staying power of the new caliber 28-20 REC 8J PS IRM C J is due to the patented oscillator with a Spiromax balance spring and a Pulsomax escapement, for which Patek Philippe has leveraged all the benefits of the innovative silicon-based Silinvar material. It is the manufacture’s first 4-hertz movement with these patented elements. The Pulsomax escapement with a Silinvar lever and escape wheel requires no lubrication and yet is practically friction-free, which saves energy each time the lever contacts the escape wheel. With 5.53 million contacts in eight days, this degree of efficiency really comes to the fore in a 4-hertz movement (28,800 vph). Additionally, the extremely hard, totally antimagnetic and corrosion-resistant Silinvar material is two-thirds lighter than steel, which further optimizes the energy balance. The efficiency of the escapement and the rate accuracy of the watch are further enhanced by precise machining to thousandths of a millimeter as well as the patented geometry of the Silinvar lever and escape wheel developed by Patek Philippe. The patented Spiromax balance spring is made of the same revolutionary material. Thanks to the precisely computed geometry of the Patek Philippe terminal curve, thinness is combined with totally symmetric expansion and contraction to optimize isochronism. The advantages of Silinvar have a favorable impact on uniform breathing, which makes a decisive contribution to high rate accuracy. This innovative escapement can be admired through the sapphire-crystal case back; depending on the angle of the incident light, the balance spring, the lever, and the escape wheel can be recognized by their purple-to-bluish hue. The aesthetic appeal is obviously inspired by the “10-Day” caliber and apart from the large mainspring barrel plate, the caliber features a clever “trompe l’oeil” going train bridge, which at first sight seems to be an ensemble of three separate, gracefully curved bridges, as well as a generously dimensioned and thus highly rigid balance cock that securely carries the readily visible oscillator. The surfaces are decorated with Geneva striping and gold-filled engravings, the edges chamfered and polished, and the flanks longitudinally grained. This is a true gem that deserves to be showcased in its display window. Despite the addition of an elaborate instantaneous calendar mechanism with a date hand and an aperture day, the new caliber 28-20 REC 8J PS IRM C J is merely 5.05 mm high, just like the movement of the Ref. 5100 “10-Day”.

If you like details like this and if you are interested in more insights, I can recommend the video about the Ref. 5200 on the official Patek Philippe site.

When we look at the case of the known Ref. 5124 it is not that different compared to the new bigger, but also more complicated Ref. 5200.

The dial is available in blue sunburst or silvery white. Emphasizing the ninth day in red to remind the owner to wind the mainspring, the 8-day power-reserve indicator occupies the upper half of the dial. Its lower half is reserved for the calendar functions, featuring a 31- day scale for the date and an aperture for the day of the week. The seconds sub dial is integrated in the date circle. Securely riveted to the face, the faceted white-gold hour markers are mirror-polished for the blue dial and blackened for the silvery opaline dial. The faceted Dauphine-style hour and minute hands in white gold are either mirror-polished or matt-blackened to match the dial color. The date hand with the red tip and the hands for the subsidiary seconds and power-reserve indicator are finished in white lacquer to contrast against the blue dial and blackened to match the silvery white dial.

A closer look on the front, the side and the back …

On the wrist :

The blue dial is more tempting and will get more attention. The silvery white dial is more legible and understated. At the end it is just a matter of taste.

No matter which dial will be chosen, the watch asks for bigger wrists. Of course the case is slightly curved and comfortable in general, but still it felt too big on my wrist.

Conclusion :

This is a very nice new complication, which comes with superb features. Especially the stop seconds, the long power reserve and the instantaneously jump of the calendar indications are something I like a lot. If someone looks for additional spice in his collection, this one could do the job.

With Patek Philippe´s first sports watch, the company introduced a timepiece that was both rugged and streamlined. The current Nautilus collection is a result of the subtle evolution of the original Ref. 3700 from the 1970s. Still today it will be hard to find something more sophisticated, when we talk about “sports” watches and especially the case and the bracelet are outstanding.

Ref. 5980/1AR and 5980/1R

The Nautilus chronograph is available since a few years and we already have seen some different versions. Nonetheless the two new ones could lead to controversial discussions.

The bicolor (steel/rose gold) and the rose gold versions are both very impressive, for several reasons. Both kinds of metals have been shown in the Nautilus collection before – e.g. Ref. 3700. The tone-in-tone monocounters help to be more subtle, if that word is appropriate in that case.

The blue dial is far from being shy, it is powerful, but doesn´t shout. I would say it is well balanced for what it is.

The mix between steel and rose gold looks amazing, but for sure it is not for everybody.

Even more impressive is the pure rose gold version. Is it a blast? Is it a bomb? Yes and no. Patek managed to create something powerful which still looks very classy. Congrats!

You think the bracelet looks bold? Well, let me tell you PP had to reduce the thickness compared to the steel version. Just because it was too heavy! I don´t know the exact weight, but it felt more heavy than the heaviest one in my possession. The latter is already 203 g

On the wrist :

Heavy or not, it fits almost perfect - even on smaller wrists like mine. Once you are used to the weight, you can enjoy the beauty of craftsmanship. After some time on the wrist and after getting some patina it should be even more beautiful.

Conclusion :

Both watches need probably guts to wear them and I don´t see them on my wrist while seeing clients – at least not in Europe. Still think the all rose gold version is to die for and I would love to own one. Is there any other way to wear such an amount of gold, in such a cool & classy way? Probably not! Never ever thought that I could like that kind of watch, but in fact I like it a lot. Well, we can learn something new every day …

Ref. 7010, 7014 and 7018

The main changes for all those watches are the dial and the hands. For comparison you should look on the next picture:

To me it looks less sporty and closer to the Ref. 3700, but in a very feminine way.

Ref. 7010 with quartz movement, four different versions. If you prefer something without bracelet, it is available as well. Just check the official homepage.

Ref. 7014 G & R with self-winding movement. Only for the happy few. A watch that you don´t buy for yourself. To get it as a present you need a wealthy lover … or two

Ref. 7018 A with self-winding movement. Could that be THE 24/7 watch for a modern lady? Maybe for some it would be even more wearable without stones, but those have to wait – if at all.

I saw at least one version of each (ladies) Nautilus but ran out of time when taking pictures. Sorry, no offense to our ladies PuristS!

Info: Next parts will be online tomorrow.