Patek Philippe

Patek Philippe 5550P with GyromaxSi balance and the Oscillomax escapement! Tuesday the 5th of April 2011 was a very special day for watchmaking's history. The basic principle of the watch calibre as we know it today begun its long evolution as far as 1675...  

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This one is no exception Thanks for sharing regards Marwan

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The new escapement wheel has an incredible profile with interesting contact points with the specially shaped lever. Absolutely amazing, all this information will take some time to digest, but definitely an incredible watch! I even like the color.

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.Does any-one have any ideas about costs Julian

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An excellent explanantion+excellent photos... Don't know who are the 300 lucky owners?

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Dear Jerome, thanks a lot for giving us plenty of detailed information! Your pics are more appealing than those from the press release - I start to like that watch! Domi

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Great post thanks for sharing. I really love to read these more technical posts. It's amazing what can still be done in watch making. Best regards, George

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thank you for putting things in perspective with such a fantastic well-written and well-illustrated paper! "to change everything so that nothing changes!" yes! the way PP is doing "business" as a profound impact on how i'm doing mine

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You had a great meeting in Switzerland. Thanks for sharing these so complete and understandable explanations + photos. I love more and more Patek Philippe "garde-temps" and the politics and philosophy of Mr Stern have to be applaused. Great work you have ... 

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Hi, I'm privileged to have attended such an event and am happy that you seem to appreciate that too as it is letting me hope to see such chance happen again! Thank you for your comments. Dje

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Thanks, Jerome, for having answered to many of the questions which were hiding behind this " new " Perpetual Calendar, and to have summed the Silicon journey into PP watches, too. The diagram of the respective amplitude curbs of the " improved " 240 and t... 

Hi, As a frequent user of a calibre 240 you know this calibre well. I know your love for it. These improvements are probably the indication that we'll see the 240 for a long time still. Well if this dial is not for you, there will be another one someday..... 

But I would also prefer seeing PP diversify their movements. Let's take the example of the Cal 240: We see it in a " simple " Calatrava, in the Nautilus Moonphase, in the WT, in the Quantieme Perpetuel, and in the Celestial. It disturbs me a bit, from an ... 

Hi Nicolas, I know your point as we already discussed it. As I understand it this is definitely not Patek Philippe's policy to develop competing (between each other) calibres. For each use there's one calibre. The 240 base is the ultra thin auto base. I d... 

And even this famous German brand is not giving to each of their watch a dedicated movement. They share a common base ( some of them ) and some have a module, to serve a complication. But, depending on the price, I woild expect something special... An exa... 

Hi Nicolas, Of course you're entitled to all expectations but I have little doubt that developping a specific base calibre for a low production piece like the Celestial would mean a watch priced at 300 000 instead of "only" 200 000, with a resulting calib... 

I'm sometime too exigeant, that must be the counterpart of my passion. Do we have a picture of the Celestial Case back? I would like to see how it looks like, as the case is big, and the movement is small. Best, Nicolas.

Hi, Unfortunately I don't have a pic of the case back but there's one on the Patek Philippe website under the reference 5102. Cheers Dje

from our dear SJX ... In this case I have no problem with the proportion, even when the movement is small. What I would love to compare is the level of finish on the "same" movement, from watches in different price categories ... Oliver...  

But you have a point on the degree of finish between a " Standart " 240 and the one used in the Celestial. It would be interesting to compare, yes. Best, Nicolas.

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Hi, What I can tell you is that Swiss watchmakers do not change the level of finish of a specific calibre depending on the final watch it will be put in. A 6000 has exactly the same level of finish of the base calibre as the 5102. The workers finishing th... 

for your reply, but if only I could believe. Especially with Swiss watchmakers and my experiences with PP watches in specific, I still have my doubts these days - to be honest. Don´t get me wrong, I know what they are able to deliver ... in some of their ... 

Hi Oliver, What is there that you don't believe? Of course Patek Philippe has a much higher standard of finish on manual wind chronograph, tourbillon or minute repeater calibres than on a 215, a 240 or a 324. They are not positioned at the same level. But... 

thanks a lot for your detailed reply, which I appreciate a lot. Best, Oliver

For sure, we don´t need unattainable watches - only! Oliver

and Jerome the report was worth the waiting. Once more good pictures, informativ details, personal thoughts ... and I appreciate them all. Innovation not for the sake of communication (only) and cased in something that doesn´t show beauty at the first sig... 

Hi, Thank you for your comments Oliver. As you suggest Thierry Stern himself said to me that he hopes that many will be worn regularly, as he knows that obviously some will end up in safes. In fact there are some prototypes worn everyday somewhere in Plan... 

Interesting to note the advancements made to the 5550P. The 'clean' room reminds me of a highly infectious disease centre or a top secret biological testing area instead of a process in watchmaking. I like the watch in it's entirety and kudos to Mr. Stern... 

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and fantastic, comprehensive story. Thank you so much for sharing with me. Given the advances to the traditional escapement and balance, I can't help but wonder whether the tourbillon will continue to be a meaningful tool for enhancing the accuracy of the... 

Another would be if we will ever see a Silinvar tourbillon? I have no answer! Thank you for your comments. Cheers Dje

Wow, it looks like an amazing achievement, doesn't it? It really outperforms the results, at least on the graphics, and the whole new movement looks gorgeous. Bravo PP! Thanks for sharing. Vte

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a lot of technical information very enjoyable to read and very easy to understand. Having been in endless discussions with many of the manufactures about Silicium(silicon) for mechanical applications, the commitment that Patek Philippe has made to this ma... 

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I'm happy that a brand like PP still keeps innovating. This top watchmaker could have been satisfied with what it represents today and just remains still. I'm not a specialist in horology but I like what is technic and you report was highly understandable...  

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and what an awsome piece...does it get any better than this..? If they'd like me to wear one for testing purposes my day job is quality control of pharmaceuticals and I will happily wear this for them and never take it off..! Thanks for the report. Andy.

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This report is chock full of info. I take it the blue is from the photosensitive resin or was it to match Thierry Stern's tie? Aloha, Bob

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I learned a lot and found the innovations to be extremely interesting. I think the movement is quite lovely, even if the dial is perhaps a little staid for me. Kudos to Patek! Cheers, Daos

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one of the best articles ever

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Thanks for sharing. And of course well done PP! A simply marvelous achievement.

Fully indepth report. Some "live" photots and the fully explained diagrams, have certainly helped me to apprciate the work taken to acheive such a nice looking piece. I doubt very much that I will get the opportunity to see one, dummy or otherwise. So wil... 

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First of all, I find the watch beautiful... they slightly updated the design and the result is great. Let's back to the technical features of the watch. They improve the performances, that's clear if we read the charts. But the key points remain unknown: ... 

I also do not associate Patek with "high tech" like JLC for instance. As Lange has and is still showing: using tarditional techniques and clockwork still can result in some truely groundbraking watches: LANGE ZEITWERK! It has got still clockwork-parts of ... 

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Am i the only one who think that there's no need to show on the dial the inscription Advances Research? Where is the magic to keep this LE undisclosed to the other people's eyes, except for the brand's lovers or simple fans?

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time and effort to bring this forward in such a detailed and informative manner.

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I still find this dial cluttered and much prefer the 3940 (except the case size) but the contrasting elements here vastly improve this watch--and its nice that the pt now distinguishes itself from the wg in an obvious way--unlike the 3940. Not bad, PP.

Yes, the dial on the 5140 is slightly cluttered. Yes, it is not quite as perfect a dial as the 3940. Nevertheless, with its thin elegance and dial simplicity, the 5140 remains at the top of the world of perpetuals, and is "perfect enough" for me. Now, wit... 

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I always respected patek as one of the best watch makers in the world, but after reading your post I have a new level of respect for what they do. It was amazing to see the amount of research and technology that is put into every piece. Thanks for the pos... 

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good to see the thinking behind this development line. I am not sure the DRIE technology as presented here is that unique to Patek though and I think that some other escapements (AP ....) are more innovative than this which is essentially, if I understand... 

Hi, This is still a Swiss lever escapement. Apparently Patek Philippe is very happy of this classic. The DRIE technique is not exclusive to PP, and is not new either. The evolution of the technique may be less spread to that level. Cheers Dje

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Not only Patek reached a new level of how to improve the power reserve but the accuracy as well. The silinvar material in the balance, balance spring and escapement seems to be a very promising and leading technology. Very nice movement finish as usual. T... 

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Thanks for this, well done. -MW

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Do you know what is that for? Looks like a "languet" for opening the back with a finger......  

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I love the combination of history and new technology in the reporting. I learn something new everyday! Great reporting and photos! Love how PP is pushing the limits on my base Cal240 (5120). Thank you!

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Thank you for the great report and the wonderful pictures of this understated watch and the contained advanced technology. It reperesents PP spirits and philosophy in watch making. Other PP watches will certainly benefit from these latest technology. If o... 

... months (!) later: Photo from the table of contents Part of the June cover Thank you very much, Dje, for your article on the 5550 in this forum! Best regards Georg...