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Patek Philippe – 2023 Rare Handcrafts Collection
Hello everyone, Each year, next to the more visible regular collection novelties, Patek presents a range of rare, sometimes unique, pieces in link with hand-made craftmanship. It has been a while since the brand has been involved in those highly skilled fields. We can of course recall the early 1950’s/1960’s enamel pocket and wrist watches or last decades pieces decorated from feather working, wood marquetry, painting crafts but in fact you can follow pieces decorated that way from the early origins of Patek in the 19th century. These are pieces that are very difficult to come buy, even on pictures. Thus, next to the main collection article I did yesterday…
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Watches & Wonders – The Patek Philippe 2023 novelties
Hi everyone, Watches & Wonders is unveiling this week its 2023 novelties releases. Patek Philippe has very tastefully built its new modern classical style next to the more traditional line-up over the last decade. I believe we can say today the outcome is stunning and helps understanding why Patek stands where it stands. This year is no exception. Remember that the brand usually also unveils some novelties later in the year (especially around October). We had no Nautilus this week (yet), like last year, as Patek wishes to make legitimate room for the classical models in a world of sports version hype. It’s especially true since some of these classical…
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Richard Mille and rocket-science materials for watches
Hi everyone, As you may have notice, although I mainly post about Patek, I’m also fond of Richard Mille’s execution regarding watches. I wished to come up to a major subject about what RM is: the manufacturing technique and, more precisely, the materials. As far as Richard Mille is concerned, materials choices and crafting are a significant aspect of what the brand is, whether we are talking about cases or movements’ structures. They select from the most innovative sectors what can be applied to watchmaking, sometimes at the cost of a significant development time. Its founder Richard Mille, a racing cars aficionado, always had in mind to start from what…
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The Patek Philippe 5172G Salmon dial – Expression of tradition or…
Hi everyone, Manual-wind chronographs are a field on their own at Patek and not only for them but among traditional established brands, over many decades. Today, I would like to have a view on the second version of the 5172 family: the Patek Philippe 5172G Chronograph with Salmon dial. It has been released last year and remains their first Salmon chronograph in the regular catalogue. Indeed, aside of maybe quasi-unique pieces made on order for older loyal customers, the previous Salmon dial chronograph was a 5070G-014 limited edition (5 pieces) released for the London exhibition back in 2015. In the contemporary and very attractive blue dial 5172G-01 (2019), I remember…
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The Patek Philippe 30-255 caliber – The manual wind beauty is waking-up
Hi everyone, In 2021, Patek has released a brand new thin manually-wound movement, the Patek Philippe 30-255 caliber. It was presented for the first time in 2 new Calatrava references, the 6119G and 6119R. Since the 2 last decades, Patek Philippe has released, one after another, new calibers to keep progressing in the search of better accuracy and improving complications’ functionality as well as convenience. Indeed, in line with the origins of 3 or 4 centuries of watchmaking development aiming at miniaturizing clocks and improving working performance, watchmaking isn’t about standing still. It would have been easy to provide the same features forever, not mentionning the Quartz crisis, and we…
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New 2022 Patek Philippe bracelet lockable size adjustment system
Hi everyone, In 2018 and 2019, Patek Philippe had unveiled 2 major evolutions for its fold-over clasp design: a “2 pushers” fold-over clasp, more secured and convenient to use (2018, still valid today); an adjustable links display, allowing to easily adjust the bracelet’s length (2019, this is the feature that has just been improved in October 2022). I posted in early 2021 an article about those 2 improvements that you can find here. However, in October 2022, together with the launch of the Nautilus 5712/1R, the new 5811G and the 5990/1A, Patek Philippe has released an evolution of the bracelet size adjustment mechanism that was presented in 2019: they call…
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The Patek Philippe 5712/1R Nautilus – Thrill in rose gold
Hello everyone, I’m a huge fan of the Nautilus line-up, the thinner models in particular, which I discovered more than 10 years ago, much before last years’ market strong blossoming. I find it’s a watch according casualness and elegance wonderfully. Excitingly (and finally I would say), we’ve just been presented a new 5712: the Patek Philippe 5712/1R Nautilus (the “1R” meaning rose gold metallic bracelet). While this meant on paper a very finely crafted model, thin hence immensely delicate, it doesn’t give the slightest idea of how tremendous the watch looks in the metal. This is mainly due to the presence of rose gold of course and I’ll try to…
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The Patek Philippe 5524R Calatrava Pilot Travel Time – A strong presence for a casual wear
Hi everyone, It’s been a long time since I wanted to review this particular family. The Patek Philippe 5524R Calatrava Pilot Travel Time that was released in 2018 was originaly launched in 2015 in a white gold version. Back then, the least we can say is that this model had created a significant buzz when it was presented at Baselworld. Nowadays, it has attracted more and more fans. As with the Nautilus (or the 5070 in a lesser extent), it puzzled some older watch enthusiasts while excited an array of older or potential new owners already enjoying a casual yet elegant lifestyle. This trend appeared quite strongly in the 2000’s…
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The Patek Philippe 5235R Annual Calendar – The Regulate
Hello everyone, Unveiled first in white gold in 2011, the Patek Philippe 5235G Annual Calendar “Regulator” was a very surprising introduction in the brand’s collection. It was unique regarding their wristwatch history, presenting a rare display format and, even more interestingly, a new brilliant caliber. Indeed, there are sometimes interesting movement evolutions but, this time, we didn’t expect to find the brand new 31-260 minirotor automatic caliber, developped in house with the help of their Advanced Research program, particularly focusing on accuracy. Hence, 7 years later, the white gold version was discontinued in 2019 to hand over to a second version presented in rose gold: the Patek Philippe 5235R “Regulator”…
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Patek Philippe October 2022 novelties – Still leading traditional modernisation
Hi everyone, Patek Philippe has just released today a new array of its annual novelties, expending its casual trend (and touch!) to several models from its classical line-up. Of course, the star of the show is certainly the new Patek Philippe 5811G Nautilus which has the difficult task to replace the previous 5711 family. However, very attractive versions have been added to existing models, among which the green dial 5204G (QP, Split-second chronograph) or the 5935A World Time, Chronograph which is a steel version with Salmon dial of the 5930. The ladies have received a nice “Rainbow” gem-set Aquanaut with a Chronograph complication as well. Among traditional brands, Patek has…
