The realm of timepieces has two hemispheres : the inner life of a watch and its outward appearance. The movement that ticks inside keeps track of time and controls the indications. The external elements protect the movement and make the watch operable. To a great extent, they are responsible for the aesthetic appeal of the timepiece. At Patek Philippe, these two hemispheres combine to form a single cosmos in which the movement and the appearance of the watch constitute an inseparable entity. This year at Baselworld, one model combined both the focus on appearance and a new caliber, reminding enthusiasts how many different professions and how much artisanal skill is needed to elevate the inimitable aesthetic grace of Patek Philippe watches to the highest levels of perfection :the new Ref. 5200 Gondolo 8 Days, Day & Date Indication.

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 – and an aesthetic personality cannot fail to delight watch enthusiasts. 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 Gondolo ; 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.

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. 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. 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 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”.

 

 

Discreet elegance and excellent legibility are two key prerequisites for the timelessness and lasting value of the new Ref. 5200 Gondolo 8 Days, Day & Date Indication, which is designed to serve its owners across several generations. Thus it is housed in an anatomically curved and elongated white-gold case with two-tiered flanks reminiscent of the most memorable Art Deco creations. In the Geneva workshops, it is crafted from solid gold bars using the cold-forming technology, shaped to perfection in numerous consecutive steps, and then gradually polished to a mirror finish by experienced specialists who invest countless hours to achieve the perfect result. The screwed case back incorporates an anatomically contoured sapphire-crystal insert, and the crystal that protects the dial is ground to a convex shape that follows the silhouette of the case without distorting the view of the elegant and well-organized face. 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 subdial is integrated in the date circle. 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. Unquestionably, this innovative rectangular long-distance runner is a paragon of aesthetics and functionality.

 

Ref. 5200 Gondolo 8 Days, Day & Date Indication

Case : 18K white gold, cambered with two-tiered flank, convex crystal, concave sapphire-crystal display back, four polished case back screws Size : 46.90 mm (across lugs) x 32,4mm Movement : manually wound mechanical movement (28-20 REC 8J PS IRM C J caliber with 8-day power reserve : 134 turns of crown to fully wound state), 235 parts, twin in-line mainspring barrels,adjustable balance spring stud, Patek Philippe Seal Functions : hours, minutes, small seconds and day-of-week aperture with date by hand at 6, 8-day power-reserve indicator at 12 Dial : Brass wafer, silvery white, 12 blackened baton hour markers with 2 facets in 18K white gold, blackened Dauphine hands for hours and minutes in 18K white gold, blackened baton hands for subsidiary seconds and power-reserve indicator, blackened arrow hand in 18K white gold with red tip for date display Water-resistance : 30m Strap : Hand-stitched alligator strap with large scales, shiny blue or matt black, 16-mm prong buckle in 18K white gold