Comments:
The most beautiful Patek Philippe central rotor?
Why are Patek Philippe central rotors no longer as beautiful as this one (calibre 12-600 AT)?
If you're interested in this topic, you might want to check AndCavanaugh's thread dedicated to Four Generations of Patek's Central Rotor Automatic Movement.
Have a great week-end.
credit: hodinkee (1 & 3) & le monde edmond (2)
I agree the 12-600AT rotor is one of the most beautiful
It was the first automatic Patek movement AFAIK, and I imagine this had a lot to do with the effort put into decorating the rotor (the rest of the movement finishing is great as well). The 2526 was also a very expensive watch when it was released, priced almost as much as a 2499 at the time.
The 27-460 movement that followed had a rotor decorated with a style that is more similar to the rotors of today.
The rotors in the modern-day minute repeaters using the R 27 and its variants have rotors more reminiscent of the one in the 12-600AT.
Yes, I really like less the rotor of the 27-460.
But the micro rotor of the R 27 repeaters is very nice.
Yes, I really wish they would adopt such a level of decoration
in most of their models. I find their regular central rotor very underwhelming.
I have to agree with you on that, but now they make 70,000 not a few thousand its a different ball game
Agree it isn't fesible with manually operated machines, but they could stamp it or use CNC lathes or pantographs.
They could and should, imo.
To get a PP hand finished caliber with interior angles, you have to turn to the most expensive models. Even a €140k watch like the in-line pc 5236p has a mostly machine finished caliber. That really takes me away from PP.
The Patek 5180 has about 150 interior angles and is cheaper than a 5236
I'd still take the 5236 though!
The guilloche
does look very beautiful ! If the watch had a crystal back then it would be perfect !
Indeed.
And I personally think Patek should make much better looking and better decorated central rotors in their current collection.
AGREED! This is very nice.
The style/design of the current version has always been a pet peeve of mine.