Patek Philippe Baselworld 2011 Novelties

Crisis? What crisis? While many other manufacturers are relying on the consolidation of already reduced offers, Patek Philippe appears to draw on abundant resources.

No less than new six grand complications are presented this year. However, it should be explain here, that Patek Philippe defines the term “Grand Complication” different from the traditional literature: not the combination of several “substantial” complications like perpetual calendar, tourbillon, repeater, or split-second chronograph makes a “Grand Complication”, but already the presence of a single of them. Additionally, the number of six novelties in this category also includes new variants of existing models, for example in larger cases, with different case materials, set with diamonds, etc. Yet there remain two truly new and highly complicated watches with new movements, which for itself is worth a bold headline.

Aside from that, Patek Philippe presents a considerable number of other novelties. Unfortunately, I was not able to inspect all new watches myself, because they were too numerous, and also present only in limited numbers at the fair; understandable, when looking at the spectacular Ref. 5208, a brand new triple complication, combining a minute repeater, perpetual calendar and chronograph with a selfwinding movement. Neither could I see the other new watches with repeater mechanism, which is why I decided not to mention them here in this report.

However, what remained of Patek Philippe’s novelties, was well enough to keep me busy for quite some time at the manufacturer’s booth. I’ll start with the stunningly beautiful handwinding chronograph with perpetual calendar, the Ref. 5270. With 41mm diameter, the watch is rather large for a Patek Philippe, but the indications on the dial benefit from the size. 30 minutes-counter of the chronograph and the small second are located at 3 and 9, pointer calendar and moonphase at 6, and two windows present the weekday and month at 12. The day-/night- and leap year indicators are located inconspicuously, but well legible aside the moonphase. For now, the watch is available in white gold only, but I would not be surprised to see other variants to follow in the next years.


Grown has also the Ref. 5496, the automatic perpetual calendar with retrograde date in platinum case. Its diameter is now 39.5mm, which suits the watch very well.


The third piece from the perpetuals I inspected is the Ref. 5139, the gorgeous, ultra-thin perpetual calendar in 18k white gold case with 38mm diameter, with the famous hobnail pattern on the bezel.


Ever since Patek Philippe presented the handwinding tourbillon with the 10 days-movement and the rectangular art déco case I was excited about this watch. For me, it is the perfect Patek. In my eyes, this year’s white gold variant, with its metallic blue and silver dial is even more attractive than its predecessors in platinum and pink gold.


Let’s turn to the less complicated watches now: One of the most beautiful among the Calatrava watches is the new Ref. 6000, in pink gold, with a metallic brown and silver dial, and a central pointer calendar. Maybe it is not really typical for a Patek at first sight, but the combination of the pink gold with the brown dial is certainly attracting attention.


A bit more conservatively designed is the second novelty from the Calatrava-series, the Ref. 5153: with central sweep second and a date window at 3 it is less fanciful, but the central guilloche and the hinged solid gold lid above the displayback are interesting details.


I am convinced that the next watch will become the object of desire for many Patek Philippe fans: the new Aquanaut Travel Time, another among the rare breed of Patek Philippe complications in steel case, combines the sportive Aquanaut case with a mechanism to display a second time zone. The main hour hand can be adjusted to a new local time in hourly increments, by pressing two pushers on the left case side. Then the hour hand for the home time, normally hidden under the main hour hand, appears. Two small indication windows inform about the day or night phases of both hour indications. The date has been placed as pointer calendar at 6. the case has a diameter of about 41mm, and is rated water tight to 120 meters.


The Worldtimer Ref. 7130 is one of Patek’s classic timepieces. The reason for a special mention of this new variant, set with diamonds on the bezel, is a specific, small detail that appears to be downright typical for Patek Philippe’s self-conception: Patek Philippe is a self-contained company, unaffected by quick changes of the fast moving world outside. This is proved by the indication of the city name Caracas on the ring with the reference cities for the world time display. Generations of watchmakers used the capital of Venezuela as reference for the time zone UTC -4. Until 2007, when president Chavez suddenly decided to relocate the whole nation by half an hour, between two time zones. For manufacturers of worldtime watches, this resulted in a problem, of course, since it was necessary to find a different reference city for the UTC -4 zone: Since then, we find various city names on the respective displays, like San Juan or La Paz. Some manufacturers even needed some time to find about the changed situation and to react accordingly.


Of course, we cannot simply assume that Patek Philippe missed the trend. The reason why Caracas is still found even on the newly released Ref. 7130, must consequently be based in the company’s self-assurance. After all, the state of Venezuela is barely nine years older than the tradition-rich Swiss watch manufacture; and once the latter decides which city is located in which time zone, this remains so eternally.

Also ladies’ timepieces have grown during the last years. This permits Patek Philippe to show special complications integrated into ladies’ watches for the first time. Unfortunately, I had no opportunity to subject these novelties, the Ref. 7000 with minute repeater, and the Ref. 7059 with split second chronograph, to a personal inspection. However, I chose three interesting pieces from the other new ladies’ watches:

The Ladies’ Automatic Nautilus in steel with diamond bezel, Ref. 7008/1, is a highly attractive, sportive and exclusive watch The dial is made from mother-of-pearl, the watch’s diameter is 33.6 mm.


Absolutely gorgeous, in fact among the most beautiful ladies’ watches I have ever seen, is the Ref. 7041, the feminine Gondolo. Perfect in proportions, design and execution, this hand-wound watch is simply breathtaking.


Finally, some medicine for the eyes: when thinking of the current fashion to offer so-called skeleton watches, which rather remind of a child’s jigsaw exercise than showing traditional handicraft, the Ref. 7180/1 is a wonderful example of how a perfect skeletonising should look: especially strong magnification reveals the secure hand of the master engraver, unlike the cold tool-like product of the CNC machine.





This message has been edited by Marcus Hanke on 2011-04-28 07:22:19 This message has been edited by Dje on 2011-05-01 21:18:55