FUTURE CLASSICS
The full spectrum of Patek Philippe’s expertise is on display in its latest timepieces
THE NEW RELEASES from Patek Philippe unveiled at this year’s Baselworld take the most sought after of all Swiss luxury watchmakers into new territory. There was a sophisticated ladies’ chronograph with a completely fresh design, some contrasting iterations of the manufacture’s much-loved Golden Ellipse collection, and the first chronograph and perpetual calendar models respectively in its equally cherished Aquanaut and Nautilus collections.
The new manually wound ladies’ chronograph ref. 7150/250R-001 reimagines Patek
Philippe’s only chronograph aimed at women. The manufacture unveiled its first women’s chronograph movement in 2009, and followed it with the Ladies First Chronograph ref. 7071. The new watch updates it with a new appearance, featuring a 38mm round rose-gold case and a bezel set with 72 flawless rare white Top Wesselton diamonds weighing 0.78 carats. It retains its classic vintage design though, with details including fluted lugs, round chronograph pushers with manually guilloched faces and a silvery opaline dial featuring sculpted Breguet hour and minute hands in rose gold.
The Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse, the second oldest watch in the Patek Philippe collection with its instantly recognisable elliptical case, quickly became a classic after its introduction in 1968. Now it’s available in two new versions to mark its 50th anniversary.
Ref. 5738R-001 is a jumbo version of the
Golden Ellipse with an ultra-thin, 5.9mm case in rose gold and an ebony sunburst dial featuring hour markers and hands in rose gold. Powered by the self-winding calibre 240, it follows the platinum Golden Ellipse model released for the 40th anniversary in 2008.
Ref. 5738/50P-001 is a Golden Ellipse that displays the superlative craftsmanship of Patek Philippe’s artisans on its dial. The black dial bears a volute pattern manually engraved in white gold, with a motif resembling Patek’s signature Calatrava cross at the centre. It’s available in a 100-piece limited edition, each sold with matching cufflinks.
The first chronograph in the Aquanaut collection, ref. 5968A-001 features the selfwinding CH 28-520 C flyback chronograph movement. There’s a 60-minute counter at 6 o’clock, but the movement’s virtually frictionfree clutch means that the sweep chronograph hand can also be used as a continuously running seconds hand, removing the need for a seconds subdial. The flyback function allows the wearer to start a new measurement while the chronograph hand is running.
Ref. 5740/1G-001 is similarly the first perpetual calendar in the Nautilus collection.
It’s also Patek Philippe’s thinnest perpetual calendar, thanks to the ultra-thin self-winding calibre 240 inside its white-gold case. Its perpetual calendar can handle all dates including February 29, and only needs updating once every 122 years.