Reference Archives - Revolution Watch

Glashütte Original: Making waves with the new Senator Chronometer

Bhanu Chopra — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 08:00:56 +0000

Glashütte Original: Making waves with the new Senator Chronometer

The latest silver and blue Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer is an elegant evolution combining marine heritage with contemporary style.

Reference

By Bhanu Chopra

Aug 18, 2023

In horology, few timepieces hold as much historical significance as marine chronometers. These precision instruments were essential for navigation on the high seas, allowing sailors to determine their exact position on long voyages. In the 19th century, the German town of Glashütte became renowned for its exceptional contributions to marine chronometry. Glashütte Original, a distinguished watchmaker, carries on this legacy today with its esteemed Senator Chronometer collection. In this article, we will delve into the history of German marine chronometers, explore the craftsmanship behind Glashütte Original’s Senator Chronometer, and appreciate the brand’s commitment to precision and innovation.

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

The Origin of Marine Chronometers

Starting from the 15th century, the era known as the Age of Discovery saw an exponential rise in travel by sea. European explorers carried out maritime expeditions in search of economic opportunities and, in some cases, territorial expansion. The need for accurate navigation at sea became more urgent after a series of naval disasters in the early 18th century. One of the most devastating shipwrecks in maritime history occurred in 1707 when four British Royal Navy warships sank in a severe storm and more than 1,000 sailors on the vessels lost their lives. The disaster was attributed to a number of factors, one of which was that the navigators had faced difficulties in determining their positions. Back then, sailors could determine latitude by observing celestial bodies, but calculating longitude proved to be a daunting challenge, resulting in errors of navigation with tragic consequences. It was the quest to solve this problem and ensure the safe passage of ships that led to the development of marine chronometers. These timepieces, mounted on ships, enabled sailors to compare Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) with the local time, allowing for precise longitude calculations based on the Earth’s rotation.

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

The first true marine chronometer was the result of the lifelong work of John Harrison, an English horologist. Over three decades of relentless experimentation and testing, Harrison revolutionized naval navigation with his innovative designs. However, the term “chronometer” was coined by William Durham in 1713, referring to watches that met specific accuracy standards. As the demand for accurate timekeeping grew, marine chronometers became indispensable tools for seafarers.

Early Designs and Advancements in Navigation

The escapements and balance wheels employed in marine chronometers played a crucial role in their accuracy. Early designs, such as the spring and pivot detents, allowed the balance wheel to rotate freely, minimizing interference. The use of hard stones, such as rubies and sapphires, as jewel bearings reduced friction and wear in pivotal areas.

To compensate for temperature variations, chronometers incorporated bimetallic strips that adjusted the balance wheel’s position. Additionally, the introduction of Elinvar, a nickel-steel alloy, provided elasticity at room temperature, mitigating the effects of temperature changes on the balance spring. These advancements in escapements and balance wheels significantly contributed to the precision and reliability of marine chronometers.

Various observatories in Western Europe started conducting rigorous testing and evaluation for marine chronometers to ensure their accuracy and reliability. These tests, known as “chronometer contests,” assessed the performance of chronometers according to stringent standards. The Neuchâtel Observatory, Geneva Observatory and Kew Observatory were among the prominent institutions that validated the accuracy of mechanical marine chronometers.

A Legacy of Precision: German Marine Chronometers

In the 19th century, Glashütte, in the Saxony region of Germany, began to emerge as a prominent center for the production of marine chronometers. The growth of international trade at the time necessitated long sea voyages, and this spurred the government of the German Empire to support watchmakers in the creation of marine chronometers. Settling down in Glashütte, German watchmakers built their expertise in precision timekeeping and began crafting marine chronometers sought after by navigators and seafarers worldwide.

2019 Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

In 1886, Glashütte sent its first marine chronometers to the German Naval Observatory in Hamburg for rigorous testing. These chronometers gained international attention due to numerous innovations and technical improvements. Glashütte’s expertise in chronometer production soon became well-known for exceptional accuracy and reliability, thanks to the works of passionate watchmakers like Paul Stübner and Gustav Gerstenberger. German marine chronometers manufactured in Glashütte were synonymous with precision and reliability. The incorporation of innovative materials, such as Invar (a nickel-iron alloy with a low coefficient of thermal expansion) and chronometer-grade escapements, allowed for greater stability and accuracy, even in challenging maritime conditions.

What defines a German marine chronometer? According to the German chronometer standards outlined in the Bezeichnungs – und Prüfvorschrift RAL 670 A, a marine chronometer is defined as a portable timepiece with a cardanically suspended movement. It must be equipped with either a chronometer escapement or a free anchor escapement and be finely adjusted to achieve the highest rate precision at prescribed temperatures.

To earn the title of “chronometer,” a watch must undergo stringent standardized testing and receive certification from an independent testing institute. One distinguishing feature of the German chronometer standard is the requirement for precise time setting to the second, with the movement undergoing the entire test procedure while mounted in its case.

With the advent of modern satellite navigation systems in the late 20th century, such as the widely used Global Positioning System (GPS), the reliance on marine chronometers has all but diminished. However, the marine chronometers of Glashütte have continued to uphold the legacy of precision and craftsmanship. Incorporating modern technologies and materials, these timepieces pay homage to the rich heritage of marine chronometry and the role of the town of Glashütte in navigation history.

A Contemporary Classic from Glashütte

Glashütte Original’s Senator Chronometer, inspired by the famous marine chronometers of the 19th and 20th centuries, embodies the brand’s commitment to precision and timeless aesthetics. Initially introduced in 2009, this timelessly elegant model quickly garnered recognition, earning the title of “Watch of the Year” from readers of the German trade magazine Armbanduhren.

2019 Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

In 2019, Glashütte Original celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Senator Chronometer by unveiling an updated and more contemporary version, featuring a redesigned case in luxurious red gold. The slimmer bezel not only enhanced its aesthetic appeal, but also provided more space for the dial to show off its refined silver-grained texture.

The dial of the Senator Chronometer 2019 exemplified the artistry of Glashütte Original’s dial manufactory in Pforzheim, which has now been relocated to the town of Glashütte to foster synergy in manufacturing. Meticulously finished, the silver-grained lacquer lent the surface a velvety texture, while the laser-engraved railroad chapter ring, indexes and numerals galvanized in black offered striking contrast. The blued steel hour and minute hands, with their elegant pear-shaped design, sailed gracefully across the dial. Additional blued steel hands graced the running time indication and small seconds displays, adding depth and dimension to the overall composition.

This year, watch connoisseurs and collectors are treated to the latest horological marvel from Glashütte Original — the newest release of the Senator Chronometer. Tradition meets contemporary allure in this creation where every detail is meticulously crafted to satisfy the discerning tastes of the most passionate collectors.

The 2023 Senator Chronometer: Form and Function All in One

The new Senator Chronometer adds a fresh and cool twist to this collection, with its striking silver-blue color scheme reminiscent of rolling ocean waves. The dial and parts of the manual winding movement are delicately silver plated by friction, creating a shimmering texture that catches the eye. To complement the elegant design, polished and traditional blued hands and appliques adorn the dial.

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

The meticulously crafted 42mm case of the Senator Chronometer is fashioned from the finest white gold and has an air of opulence and refinement. The sapphire crystals on both the front and back offer a tantalizing glimpse into the intricate inner workings of this horological gem. Every detail is carefully arranged for optimal functionality and visual appeal, from the central hour and minute hands to the recessed small seconds subdial at six o’clock. The signature Panorama Date makes its return at three o’clock and adds a distinctive touch.

One fascinating detail of the running time indicator at 12 o’clock is its relation to power reserve. When fully wound, the indicator sits at “Auf,” denoting the watch’s full power reserve. This is reminiscent of how marine chronometers displayed their energy status. Additionally, a small aperture within the running time display serves as a day/night indicator.

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

The dark blue Louisiana alligator leather strap, adorned with a folding clasp in white gold, ensures the Senator Chronometer presents an easy sophistication on the wrist.

Glashütte Original’s Senator Chronometer offers more than just exquisite design; it also boasts an array of functional features. The small seconds display at six o’clock is reminiscent of the time display on historic marine chronometers. Positioned at 12 o’clock, the running time indicator further enhances the timepiece’s functionality, displaying the number of hours that the watch has been running.

One standout feature of the Senator Chronometer is the Panorama Date, a signature element of Glashütte Original watches. Located at three o’clock, the Panorama Date aligns with the hue of the dial, creating a cohesive and balanced aesthetic. The date change mechanism, known as the “jumping date,” ensures a precise and instantaneous transition at midnight.

To facilitate ease of use, Glashütte Original has integrated a discreet day/night indicator within the running time display. This indicator aids in setting the date correctly, showing a white circle from 6 a.m. in the morning until 6 p.m. in the evening and transitioning to black thereafter.

The Caliber 58-08: Certified Precise by the German Calibration Service

One of the hallmarks of Glashütte Original’s Senator Chronometer is its official certification as a chronometer by the German Calibration Service. This certification attests to the watch’s exceptional quality and precision. Each model in the Senator Chronometer line undergoes a rigorous 15-day test run, examining its rate precision in five positions and three different temperatures. These tests are conducted by the independent Thuringian Office of Weights and Measures.

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

The German Calibration Service certification ensures that Glashütte Original’s Senator Chronometer upholds the grand tradition of precision in everyday life. It represents the brand’s unwavering commitment to producing timepieces of the highest caliber.

At the heart of the new Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer lies the caliber 58-08, a manually wound movement crafted with meticulous attention to detail. The movement operates at a frequency of 28,800 half-oscillations per hour, equivalent to 4Hz. It boasts a generous power reserve of 44 hours and 40 minutes.

The caliber 58-08 incorporates a refined stop-seconds mechanism, allowing for precise time setting. When the crown is pulled out, the time display halts, and the seconds hand resets to zero and remains in that position. As the crown is turned to set the time, the minute hand advances to the next full minute index, maintaining the correct relationship between seconds and minutes. The stop-seconds mechanism allows for precise time-setting, while the characteristic minute detent ensures an audible haptic click as the minute hand jumps from one index to the next, maintaining perfect synchronization.

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

Through the sapphire crystal caseback, one can admire the exquisite craftsmanship of the caliber 58-08. The movement contains a large mainspring barrel, a system of planetary gears, a partially openworked three-quarter plate, silver plated by friction with galvanized gray treatment, and an individually hand engraved balance cock. Additional components such as screw-mounted gold chatons, a mirror-polished swan-neck fine adjustment system and individually heat-blued screws showcase the brand’s horological expertise and dedication to genuine craftsmanship.

Timeless and Original

Glashütte Original’s Senator Chronometer is a testament to the brand’s unwavering commitment to precision, innovation and timeless design. It pays homage to the legacy of German marine chronometers while incorporating contemporary elements that appeal to modern watch enthusiasts, making it a true masterpiece of German watchmaking.

The Senator Chronometer not only exemplifies the brand’s technical prowess, but also showcases its commitment to elegant design and timeless aesthetics. From the meticulously finished dial to the intricate movement, every aspect of this timepiece reflects Glashütte Original’s passion for horological excellence.

The latest silver-blue Senator Chronometer will be available exclusively at Glashütte Original boutiques and select luxury retailers worldwide. With a heritage that spans over a century, Glashütte Original remains committed to preserving the art of watchmaking. Producing up to 95 percent of all movement components and filigree dials in-house, it embodies the essence of German precision engineering. The Senator Chronometer is a rare gem that combines heritage, craftsmanship and technical excellence — an extraordinary acquisition for any watch collector who seeks to own a piece of horological history.

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer Specs and Price

Reference: 1-58-08-01-04-61
Movement: Manual winding caliber 58-08; 44 hours and 40 minutes of power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, running time and day/night indicator, and Panorama Date
Case: 42mm; polished and satin-brushed 18K white gold; water resistant to 50m
Dial: Silver with blue typography; blue Roman numerals
Strap: Dark blue Louisiana alligator leather; 18K white gold folding clasp
Price: USD 32,300

Discover more about the Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer here.

News

By Rob Nudds

The Glashütte Original Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2023

Sep 14, 2023

News

By Rob Nudds

The Glashütte Original Sixties Small Second in Gold is as sophisticated as it is subtle

Jun 15, 2023

Glashütte Original

By Troy Barmore

This Glashütte Original PanoInverse Limited Edition Showcases the Irresistible Rhythm of the City

Mar 23, 2023

Glashütte Original

By Bhanu Chopra

Live the Experience: Glashütte Original SeaQ Chronograph

Sep 29, 2022

Glashütte Original

By Bhanu Chopra

Retrograde Annual Calendar: Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar

Aug 22, 2022

FROM THE SHOP

Bell & Ross

Bell & Ross x Alessandro Palazzi x Revolution & The Rake Bellytanker Chronograph "Vesper"

$5,250.00

TECH SPECS

Movement	Self-winding caliber BR.CAL-301; 42-hour power reserve
Functions	Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph and date
Case	41mm; CuAI7Si2 bronze; water resistant to 100m
Dial	Sunray brushed with applied, gold-plated indices
Strap	Black calfskin; satin polished bronze folding clasp
Limited Edition	Limited edition of 50 pieces

The post Glashütte Original: Making waves with the new Senator Chronometer appeared first on Revolution Watch.

Why Patek Philippe Remains Still and Forever the King of High Watchmaking

Wei Koh — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 08:30:09 +0000

Why Patek Philippe Remains Still and Forever the King of High Watchmaking

At its latest Watch Art Grand Exhibition, the manufacture continues its mission to share its savoir-faire, latest technical innovations and peerless métiers d’art to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Reference

By Wei Koh

Aug 4, 2023

When people ask me why it is that Patek Philippe, which already has staggering wait lists for almost all its watches and certainly its much sought-after complication, high-complication, grand-complication and sport models, would spend a staggering sum — easily in the millions — to showcase their history and craft in their Grand Exhibitions, my three-word response is invariably: “Because they can.”

Which is not meant to be so much glib as factual. As a wholly family-owned and -run company, Thierry and Philippe Stern can decide how to deploy their capital. For them, the objective has never been to sell more watches, but to tell the world their story with the greatest authenticity. Because when it comes to high watchmaking, the innovation of game-changing complications and the creation of peerless métiers d’art, there is only one king. And that king is Patek Philippe.

Even industry legend Jean-Claude Biver — a man who has, in some ways, competed against Patek Philippe for over 40 years since he revived Blancpain in 1982 — collects almost exclusively Patek Philippe watches himself. Why? He explains, “Because Patek is the best. It is as simple as that. No brand has brought greater creativity, better quality and more beautiful designs to watchmaking. No one.”

Today, all watch brands are engaged on a single-minded mission to create broader awareness, greater desirability and to reach the next generation of consumers. But each one at the top does it in a different way. Audemars Piguet has decided to engage with popular culture like hip hop and Marvel Comics. Rolex today completely dominates the world of sports, despite it very brilliantly shifting beyond the sports market and into the high-luxury world with its watches.

But no one tells the story of the history of watchmaking better than Patek Philippe. And when you attend the Grand Exhibition in Tokyo’s Sumitomo Sankaku Hiroba as a new watch fan, a young person still in his early formative stage in terms of taste, there is one message you will leave with — the one irrefutable and unassailable truth that will be imparted upon you so that it bonds forever with your psyche — which is that the history of high watchmaking is the story of Patek Philippe itself, certainly throughout the 20^th century and now in our new millennium.

Patek Philippe’s Watch Art Grand Exhibition in Tokyo’s Sumitomo Sankaku Hiroba

Nicholas Foulkes, President of the Geneva Grand Prix, and the journalist extraordinaire who literally wrote the book on Patek Philippe, says, “The motivation for Patek Philippe to stage these extraordinary Grand Exhibitions is the same one that inspired Philippe Stern to create the Patek Philippe salon in Geneva. Because when you enter inside and walk through the history of watchmaking, you realize that no brand has had a greater influence on shaping high watchmaking than Patek Philippe, thanks to the extraordinary leadership of the Stern family.”

Auro Montanari, one of the world’s foremost Patek Philippe historians and the author of the amazing Patek Philippe Steel Watches, says, “No one has achieved more to shape the culture of high watchmaking than Patek Philippe. Look at 1941, the world was at war, but Patek Philippe made two of the most iconic watches of all time: Ref. 1518, the world’s first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph; and Ref. 1526, the world’s first serially produced perpetual calendar.”

From left: Patek Philippe Ref. 1518 and Ref. 1526

Montanari’s point is extremely salient, because in the annals of modern horology, there is no brand more synergistically associated with the perpetual calendar wristwatch. Patek Philippe was the very first to create a perpetual calendar wristwatch in 1925, the first to create a retrograde perpetual calendar wristwatch in 1937, as well as the very first to produce a perpetual calendar wristwatch in series in 1941 with the legendary Ref. 1526. The manufacture was the first to create a sweep-seconds perpetual calendar wristwatch in 1944 with the Ref. 1591, and the first to serially produce this complication in 1951 with the Ref. 2497. It was also the first to create a self-winding perpetual calendar beginning in 1962 with the iconic Ref. 3448 — in fact, it would take a full 16 years before another Swiss watchmaker could match this achievement.

The iconic Patek Philippe Ref. 3448

In addition, as Montanari points out, Patek Philippe was also the first to create a perpetual calendar chronograph in 1941 with the legendary Ref. 1518. And Patek Philippe holds the record for the most expensive vintage perpetual calendar ever sold at auction: the stainless steel Ref. 1518 perpetual calendar chronograph which went under the hammer for just over CHF 11 million at a Phillips Bacs & Russo auction in 2016.

Ahmed Shary Rahman, modern Patek Philippe collector and GPHG jury member, says, “More than shaping the history of high watchmaking. Patek is high watchmaking. And what I love is that when they launch new watches, it’s never a gimmick; it’s never to create a social media sensation, but to introduce new functional complications backed by a tremendous amount of research and new functional innovations.” The message is clear: amid a world where watch brands are launching a constant dizzying array of newer, better, splashier, crazier timepieces, Patek Philippe makes real watches. What do I mean by this? Let’s take a look at two timepieces introduced during the Tokyo Grand Exhibition as examples of real watchmaking.

Quadruple Complication Limited Edition Tokyo 2023 Ref. 5308P-010

You didn’t think that all this talk about Patek Philippe and perpetual calendars was going to lead nowhere, did you? So the predecessor to the Ref. 5308 was the Ref. 5208 launched in 2011. The latter featured an instantaneous perpetual calendar shown in apertures, a minute repeater and a chronograph. Famously at the time of the launch, there was only one other instantaneous perpetual calendar shown in apertures, which was made by Roger Dubuis; but as that brand abandoned this model, Patek Philippe then became the only brand with this function. Add to that the magnificent song of the world’s best minute repeaters and you already have a heady and alluring combination.

Patek Philippe Quadruple Complication Ref. 5308P-010 Limited Edition Tokyo 2023

But then Patek Philippe also added a chronograph. How? Patek Philippe’s Head of Watch Development, Philip Barat — who’s also known as “Mr Plexi” for his capacity to explain complex mechanisms using plexiglass models — says, “Amusingly, this is the one and only time that Patek Philippe had ever made a modular chronograph. The module in this case sits between the perpetual calendar mechanism and the minute repeater base caliber, but it is a highly efficient chronograph mechanism, which doesn’t draw much power for the underlying base caliber despite being laterally coupled.”

What was super amusing at the Tokyo Grand Exhibition was that the Ref. 5308, by all standards an utterly mind-blowing game-changing timepiece, was simply put on display in a vitrine in the Grand Complication room with a small plaque that read “New Model”. But it was when you read “Split Second Chronograph” in the watch’s description that things got exciting. There is no brand more famous for the split-seconds chronograph or “rattrapante” than Patek Philippe. As proof of this, they even brought the legendary “Duke Ellington” Ref. 1563, a simply incredible split-seconds chronograph version of the famous Ref. 1463 Tasti Tondi, with them to the Tokyo Exhibition.

Patek Philippe Ref. 542 HU in pink gold

Patek Philippe has also been an incredible innovator in the world of split-seconds chronographs, designing an isolator mechanism first for the Lemania 2310 — or CH27-525 in Patek speak — found in the Ref. 5004, as well as an all-new isolator mechanism for the in-house CH29-535, which is found in the Ref. 5204 and Ref. 5370. So, what is an isolator? To understand this, you need to visualize how a split-seconds chronograph works.

A Brief Look at Split-Second Chronographs

Basically, the split-seconds wheel is connected to the chronograph seconds wheel by a spring-loaded arm that sits against a heart cam found on the chronograph wheel. So when the split-seconds brake stops the split-seconds wheel, the chronograph can still continue to turn. But when it is released thanks to this arm, the split-seconds wheel can catch up immediately.

Now the problem is that the pressure of the arm against the heart cam can sometimes cause either a huge drag on the amplitude of the balance wheel, or it can cause the watch to stop altogether, especially when power reserve or mainspring torque is not high.

I cannot tell you how many super-high-end split-seconds chronographs I know of that are guilty of this flaw because they don’t have isolators, but let me just say there are a lot of them. So, of course, when Patek Philippe was going to add a split-seconds chronograph to the Ref. 5208 to create the Ref. 5308, they were going to do so accompanied by an isolator. Philip Barat says, “We didn’t want to increase the thickness of the movement, so we created an isolator mechanism that is on the same level as the split-seconds train, in between the split-seconds brake and the chronograph mechanism.”

But of course, typical of Patek Philippe, that’s not all. Indeed this laterally-coupled chronograph features a brilliant drive wheel made from nickel phosphorous using the LIGA process, which allows for the creation of extremely complex shapes down to a micron’s tolerance. A laterally-coupled chronograph means that the drive wheel and chrono wheel engage on the perimeter of both wheels using gear teeth.

The problem is that a lot of the time, as the clutch falls, the teeth hit each other rather than falling back into place in between each other. This causes backlash, meaning the seconds hand jumps either backwards or sometimes forwards, as the teeth struggle to find their place. Patek Philippe has solved this by creating a drive wheel where the teeth are flexible and each features its own leaf spring. As a result, the instantaneous perpetual calendar works perfectly with jumps of just 30 milliseconds even when the watch is down to just 10 hours of power reserve.

A Quick Refresher on Patek Philippe World Timers

What motivated Patek Philippe to create their first World Timers? Well, let’s look at this in the context of Patek Philippe’s history. The maison was acquired by the Stern family and run by brothers Charles and Jean Stern in 1932. This marked the start point of Patek Philippe’s truly glorious era, which stretches across the 20^th century to this day. And it cannot be overstated how brilliantly creative Charles and Jean Stern were.

Just nine years into their stewardship and in the throes of the Second World War, they launched two of the most important timepieces ever made — the Ref. 1518, the world’s first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph, and the Ref. 1526, the world’s first serially produced perpetual calendar — and single-handedly introduced us to the era of complicated wristwatches.

In 1937, Charles’s son, Henri Stern, brought Patek Philippe to the United States. Henri was a global gadabout like no other, fearlessly venturing to South America and other far-flung destinations to spread the gospel of Patek Philippe, now under the leadership of his father and uncle. What was clear was that the Sterns discussed the type of wristwatches the modern gentleman and, in particular, the American would like to wear. Their answer was: a watch made for the traveling man, a man of elegance who circumnavigates the earth in style.

Patek Philippe Retrograde Perpetual Calendar Wristwatch from 1937

Around this time, Louis Cottier had approached all of the major names in Geneva with his invention, the world-time complication. The very first piece that he delivered was one made for Baszanger, which had a dial made by the Sterns. Serendipity would have Louis Cottier and the Sterns set out on one of the most magical and mutually beneficial collaborations that would bear fruit in their legendary World Time and Travel Time complications.

On display at the Patek Philippe Grand Exhibition in Tokyo, amid a magnificent array of both vintage and contemporary timepieces, was a gem known as the Patek Philippe Ref. 542 HU. The Ref. 542 HU is absolutely stunning to look at with its small 28mm case, Cottier’s hour hand with a bisected circle design, and unusually long lugs. Cased in yellow gold, it is also special in that it is the very first Patek Philippe World Time wristwatch where noon and midnight are shown using a sun and a moon in the 24-hour ring. The genius of the Ref. 542 HU relates to the use of a large rotating bezel that bears the names of 31 locations for the earth’s 24 zones, meaning that you can easily switch the name of your local city.

According to Sotheby’s, five examples are known to exist, two of which were on display at the Tokyo exhibition. But it was this pink gold example that literally made my jaw drop as I stared transfixed in front of it.

Patek Philippe Ref. 542 HU in pink gold

Also on display was a stunning Patek Philippe Ref. 2523 World Timer with a cloisonné enamel map. This model has created quite a stir as a rare yellow gold version with a North American map of it was recently sold at auction for a staggering USD 8.5 million. While the initial Patek Philippe World Timers such as the Ref. 1415 featured engraved bezels which were manually turned to any new local city, in 1953, Cottier and Patek Philippe unveiled a stunning watch featuring the all-new caliber 12-400 HU, with a second smaller crown that turned an inner rotating city disk. The watch this new complication came in was an absolute masterwork of design and featured stunning faceted lugs that were made for Patek Philippe by Gerlach.

Patek Philippe Ref. 2523 World Timer

Yet, strangely, despite its unique beauty, the Ref. 2523 didn’t sell particularly well and, as a result, were made in very small quantities. The number of watches made is a topic of debate, but the total for the Ref. 2523 and Ref. 2523/1, according to Patek Philippe, can be placed at less than 40 in yellow gold, more than 10 in rose gold and just one in white gold.

World Time Limited Edition Tokyo 2023 Reference 5330G-010

Now let’s shift gears to talk about a modern watch. Because at the Tokyo Grand Exhibition, Patek Philippe launched what is, in my opinion, one of the most brilliantly innovative and enchantingly beautiful watches of all time: the 300-piece limited-edition World Time Limited Edition Tokyo 2023 Ref. 5330G with date. This is the third time a modern world-timer by Patek Philippe has featured an additional complication: a chronograph version, Ref. 5930, was launched in 2016; and a cloisonné enamel minute repeater version which strikes local time, Ref. 5331, was made first in 2017 for the New York Grand Exhibition depicting Manhattan’s skyline.

The Ref. 5330G is a magnificent white gold Patek Philippe world-timer with a purple guilloche à main dial and the date placed at the perimeter. “Thierry spent a lot of time deciding where to place the date,” says Philip Barat. “At one point he was thinking to place it between the city disc and the 24-hour ring, but decided it was not visible enough.” Finally the decision was taken to place it at the very edge of the dial — on the rehaut that marks the transition to the bezel.

Patek Philippe World Time Ref. 5330G-010 Limited Edition Tokyo 2023

But then the question was, how to add a hand such that it would not disrupt the reading of all the other crucial world-time information? Barat explains, “We decided to use a glass hand that was almost invisible to the eye with a red hammer-shaped indicator. In order to do this, we had to learn how to weld the glass to a small tube that is coaxial to the cannon pinion.”

But that was far from the most complex technical feat required by the Ref. 5330G. Barat continues, “We realized we would have to deal with the International Date Line and that you could end up in a destination where the date was the day before when you travel east to west.” An example of this is a flight from Singapore to New York. In this scenario, you land the day before you departed. Amazingly, the Ref. 5330G understands this and compensates for it. But there is one more problem.

Barat says, “There is one hour a day where every one of the 24 zones is in the same date. So even when you cross the International Date Line, the date doesn’t change. We created a system with a differential mechanism to compensate for this. Actually, this is the second system we created, because in the first version we realized that the hand still wanted to change and you could see a sort of backwards and forwards tug of war on this hand during the one-hour period. Thierry immediately stopped production and had us rework the system to get it exactly right.”

This is a testament to how Patek Philippe never launches anything but a fully resolved timepiece. Ref. 5330G is exactly that and represents both transcendent beauty and, as always, real, functional innovation.

So now you understand the motivation behind Patek Philippe’s Grand Exhibition. As I pointed out earlier, this undertaking is both Herculean and extremely costly, but Patek Philippe clearly feels that it is worth everything — and I, for one, agree. It’s funny because, of late, it has been very fashionable to discuss the performance in terms of revenue of the world’s top watch brands. And many online pundits have discussed Patek Philippe’s ranking as the fifth biggest brand in the world at CHF 1.8 billion based on 68,000 units sold in 2022.

But, first of all, you need to understand something. Patek Philippe’s revenue is at the wholesale level. Patek Philippe — like Rolex, as opposed to Audemars Piguet and Richard Mille — believes in partnerships and always has. Could it shift to the model espoused by the latter to keep all revenue to itself and massively increase profit? Yes, easily. But Patek Philippe doesn’t because it is a family-owned company and thus makes decisions for the long term.

If you were to calculate Patek Philippe’s revenue at the retail level, it would probably exceed that of Cartier’s 2.75 billion — making it the number one high-luxury watch brand in the world. But Patek Philippe doesn’t need to, because it is already the number one watch brand in terms of desirability based on real authenticity and not marketing hype.

In many ways, even though they will never admit it, there is always a competition among the industry’s top CEOs to say that they make more revenue than the others. But Patek Philippe doesn’t think this way. Imagine if you were to go to a country where you don’t speak the language and perhaps the cultural differences there make you feel lost and confused.

Yet if you mention the name “Patek Philippe”, the vast majority of people around you, certainly in affluent circles, would immediately light up and want to talk to you. That is the power of Patek Philippe: it transcends language, culture, religion, and is the universal symbol for the very best when it comes to watchmaking. It has been for the last 100 years, and I am sure it will be so for the next 100.

So when people say, “Oh, but Patek Philippe doesn’t rank as high as this brand or that brand in terms of revenue,” tell them that it is because Patek Philippe is not playing this game. They are not motivated by revenue. They are motivated only by one thing: the preservation of their immortality as the very best.

I will say one last thing as a sort of warning to the rest of the industry. It is clear that with the completion of its new manufacture, Patek Philippe, which was previously restrained by the number of watches it could physically produce, is now capable of expansion. While the official statement is that this manufacture was created to “streamline production”, etc., the very brilliant Stern family is not going to invest CHF 600 million without a great reason.

With an already insurmountable delta between demand and supply, increasing production by, say, 30 percent, would do nothing to damage the desirability of Patek Philippe. It will, however, definitely take market share away from brands and groups that have profited all the times when a Patek Philippe was not available.

Review

By Cheryl Chia

Top Five Innovations in Timing Watches

Sep 15, 2023

Patek Philippe

By Cheryl Chia

Behind the Scenes at Patek Philippe’s New PP6 Manufacture

Sep 8, 2023

News

By Sheng Lee

Patek Philippe Unveils Rare Handcrafts Collection Watch Art Grand Exhibition in Japan

Jun 14, 2023

News

By Revolution

Patek Philippe releases six special editions at Watch Art Grand Exhibition Tokyo

Jun 13, 2023

Videos

By Revolution

The Last Emperor’s Patek Philippe: History in the Making

May 29, 2023

FEATURED FROM THE SHOP

Bell & Ross

Bell & Ross x Alessandro Palazzi x Revolution & The Rake Bellytanker Chronograph "Vesper"

$5,250.00

TECH SPECS

Movement	Self-winding caliber BR.CAL-301; 42-hour power reserve
Functions	Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph and date
Case	41mm; CuAI7Si2 bronze; water resistant to 100m
Dial	Sunray brushed with applied, gold-plated indices
Strap	Black calfskin; satin polished bronze folding clasp
Limited Edition	Limited edition of 50 pieces

The post Why Patek Philippe Remains Still and Forever the King of High Watchmaking appeared first on Revolution Watch.

Breitling: A Perfect Premier

Felix Scholz — Fri, 19 May 2023 12:00:42 +0000

Breitling: A Perfect Premier

Impeccable style meets purpose and substance in the Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 42.

Reference

By Felix Scholz

May 19, 2023 15 minutes

The origin of the Breitling Premier

Breitling is a brand that has been built, in its modern era at least, on a bedrock of tough, no-nonsense tool watches made with professionals in mind. But as a brand with nearly 140 years of history, there’s more to Breitling than fan favorites like the Navitimer and the Superocean. Within its archives, there’s also plenty of elegance to be found. In fact, you don’t need to look any further than the elegant Breitling Premier, which was unveiled earlier this year in an attractive six-pack, offered in a 42mm case and powered by the impressive Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01.

The history of the Premier goes back 80 years to 1943. But before we look at the storied past and bright future of this most prestigious chronograph, we need to lay the groundwork of why Breitling is so intrinsically linked with the chronograph.

An advertisement for the Breitling Premier from 1948

The early years of the Breitling Premier

While Breitling as a brand has a catalog full of distinctive, exceptional watches, if you had to distill the essence of the maker down to one word, it would be — chronographs. From its earliest days, Breitling has specialized. In 1884, Léon Breitling opened his first atelier in Saint-Imier, Switzerland and, in less than a decade, had turned it into a fully-fledged manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the ticking heart of the Swiss watch industry. Even at this time, Breitling had excelled at producing stopwatches and chronographs, developing patented innovations that set the tone for the future of the brand. In 1914, Léon’s son Gaston took the helm of the family firm, and with an eye on the world’s changing relationship with timekeepers, created one of the first chronographs worn on the wrist with an independent pusher at two o’clock. This feature allowed a more practical way of interacting with the complicated watch, and also minimized the risk of accidental actuation. The impetus for this innovation was the then newly emerging field of heavier-than-air flight, marking the first of Breitling’s many forays into the world of aviation.

However, Gaston Breitling’s tenure at the head of the company was relatively short — he passed away in 1927, leaving his young son, Willy Breitling, as the sole heir of the family business. In contrast, Willy would manage the company for more than 50 years, shepherding it from success to success. An early innovation from 1933, which Willy oversaw, was the addition of a second pusher at four o’clock, which separated the start/stop functionality (at two), from this new, dedicated reset function. This layout, formative in defining the modern chronograph both in terms of form and function, was but one reason why Willy Breitling and the brand he led are synonymous with this singular complication.

Willy Breitling, King of The Chronograph

A central figure in the story of Breitling — and the pivotal character in the origin of the Premier — is Willy Breitling. The third generation of the Breitling family to run the company, Willy’s tale is as remarkable as the man himself. He took over the reins of the family company at the tender age of 19. Breitling’s official brand historian and author of Premier Story — the definitive history of the collection — Fred Mandelbaum explains, “Willy Breitling was 13 years old when his father died. He was a boy in school. From family history, we see that for him it was clear what he would do. There was never a doubt that he would lead Breitling.

Breitling’s CEO at the age of 20

There was actually a law in Switzerland at the time that said that you cannot be the General Manager of a corporation before the age of 20. So he joined the company before his 19th birthday, took over management internally, and convinced his mother that he was ready. There are stories of him going through the books and discovering all kinds of shenanigans, and pushing out the General Manager whom his mother had employed, taking over the company when he was 19, and being officially registered as CEO on his 20th birthday.” Now, it would be reasonable to expect that someone of Willy’s age would lack the experience and skills typically associated with running a business, but in this particular instance, Willy confounded expectations, rapidly proving himself an effective and even visionary leader of his family brand. When it comes to Willy’s vision and direction for the company, Mandelbaum notes that in the early years of his tenure, there was a scarcity of documentation in terms of strategy or business direction. For the 1930s at least, the best measure of Willy’s effectiveness in the role was how well the business performed overall.

Breitling’s historian, Fred Mandelbaum

Breitling: The chronograph company

“Very shortly afterward, we see in an Austrian magazine, he lays out chronographs — you have to understand Breitling’s core positioning was always the chronograph — this is where the patents and innovations came from. It was a chronograph company. Back then, chronographs, like wristwatches in general, were a niche product. Men didn’t wear watches; men had waistcoats, and men laughed at wristwatches to begin with. Willy saw that the wristwatch had to win, and you see him looking at strategies as to why everyone would need a chronograph.

Kodak’s influence on Breitling’s strategy

This was in 1935. In an interview he looks at marketing, and cites the example of the Kodak Brownie camera, which was a mass-market, easy-to-use camera that changed the market completely. That was hugely important; photography for everyone was a game changer, and Willy cites this in an interview. He says we need to look at Kodak, we need to standardize a product, give it an appearance that people will want to win, and then we need to look at the pricing of course. He defined the ‘popular’ line, which brought people in, and then a high-end line that defined the brand. So he was 20 years old and had it all worked out: we’re going to define the form; we’re going to define a product line from entry-level to high-end; we’re going to specifically brand it; and we’re going to make sure — and this was in 1935, when nobody talked about it — that everyone will want a chronograph on his wrist.” Willy’s gamble on the chronograph paid off, as the market for these specialized timers boomed in the 1940s.

How to make chronograph watches desirable again?

The 1950s, however, saw the business of watches head in a different direction. Mandelbaum explained, “In the 1950s, the popularity of diving, speared on by Jacques Cousteau, led to a boom in dive watches. So everyone who ‘needed’ a chronograph in the ’40s now ‘needed’ a dive watch. Chronograph sales dropped dramatically.” But Willy had a plan. “Willy was the head of the association of chronograph manufacturers during the 1950s, and they put together hundreds of pages of strategy, market research, etc, looking at how to reposition the chronograph and make it sexy again. This is what happens in the early 1960s, with all the sports chronographs that we know and cherish today, like the Breitling Top Time. They actually all came out of that strategy paper where they defined a new marketing approach for chronographs. We see sales rising tenfold during the ’60s, with the craze where everybody needed a sports chronograph. This is all documented — he was very influential.”

From Purpose to Style with the sports chronograph

The seeds of the sports chronograph success that would sprout in the 1960s were planted decades earlier, in the early 1940s. The world in the ’40s was, of course, a world at war, and Breitling’s precision timekeepers and aviation chronographs were tools with a critical purpose, destined for use by the RAF and others. What’s perhaps startling then is that, during this time of conflict and confusion, Breitling was looking to the future, and saw that it looked bright. Willy Breitling sensed the war was ending, and, while the company was supporting the war effort, he was planning for peace. Mandelbaum describes how Willy’s sophisticated marketing sensibilities laid the groundwork for decades to come.

A range of contemporary colors ensure that the Premier feels fresh

The meaning behind the Breitling Premier name

“Willy was like a very gifted chess player, planning his moves 12 moves ahead. You see him designing technology, casing, appearance, etc., and then in the 1940s, he defines a marketing strategy. Each of the lines gets their own names, which was very unusual back then. Very few watchmakers, and none that covered multiple market segments, named their collections. So the first one to appear with its own family name on the dial was the Chronomat. Then the Duograph, the Datora and the Premier appeared concurrently during the years of 1943 and ’44. That 1943 is defined as the birth year of the Premier, is because this was when it got its name.” Mandelbaum goes on to explain, “The name came from what the watch is about. Willy didn’t mean for Premier to mean first; he meant it to be the best — like a Premier Cru wine. This was his concept of what Premier was. The best movements and the best functionality as the basis of course, along with the best quality assurance and using the best casemakers, the best dial makers, etc.

Heading to Hollywood with Paramount to market the Breitling Premier

Alongside this, with the launch of the Premier, you see the language of the companies’ positions (through advertising, etc,) dramatically change. Willy signed a contract with Paramount in Hollywood. Cesar Romero was the Latin heartthrob of the times, and he was signed for an advertising deal. You see hope as the core of his strategy. He knows the war; he feels it will end quite soon, so he repositions his watches into the civilian markets. The luxury, exuberance and optimism — those characteristics are what really make the Premier. It is a watch of hope and joie de vivre.”

The Breitling Premier ref. 765, ca. 1943 (left) and the Premier ref. 734 inspired the modern collection

Specialist suppliers helped Breitling in building a fantastic chronograph

It’s worth noting that while today Breitling’s in-house caliber 01 is amongst the best chronograph movements on the market, the landscape of the watch industry was dramatically different during Willy’s time. Breitling, like the rest of the industry, used a network of specialist suppliers, rather than producing them internally. For the Premier models, Breitling used nothing but the best. That’s true for the cases, and also for the calibers. At the time, the best were the movements made in Moutier, by a young company called Vénus SA. From 1937/38 onwards, Vénus assembled the caliber 170 for Breitling; the brand used it in their entry-level chronograph line. But for the Premier, it was the higher-specced Vénus calibers like the 175 and the 178. These movements were impressive for the time, with a column-wheel chronograph design, Incabloc shock protection and Breguet hairsprings. These calibers were legendary chronographs in their own right, and fitting powerhouses for the Premier.

The Legendary Premier watch

Born out of hope, the promise of those first Premier models paid off. Mandelbaum notes that measuring the success of specific models from 80 years ago is challenging, with the only real data available being production batches. But even based on this limited understanding, the numbers paint a picture. If you look at production batches of specific models, it starts in quantities of 100s and moved to batches of 2,000. From the early ’40s through to the mid- ’40s, production rose eightfold.

The reference 765 and 777

While the first wave of Breitling Premier chronographs was offered in a wide array of configurations and designs, a few specific references stand out to collectors. First, the twin references 765 and 777 must be mentioned. The former is a triple-register chronograph, in a 38.1mm case, powered by the Vénus 178 caliber that is notable for the long, slender and tapering lugs that came to define the Premier ‘look’. The 777 is the twin-register version of the same watch. Interestingly enough, these watches were developed prior to the Premier becoming an official collection in 1943, but they certainly lived up to the values of the name, and remained a staple of the lineup until the 1960s. Most ref. 765 models were cased in steel, and the rare fully-gold cased versions are exceptionally rare and highly sought after by collectors today.

The original designs, like this ref. 777 from 1945, were powered by manually wound calibers, like this Venus cal. 175

Breitling’s forgotten heritage

Speaking of collectors, Mandelbaum points out that in terms of communicating about their heritage and history, the brand has some catching up to do. “One of the problems that we hope to change, and we’re very open about it, is that Breitling neglected their heritage. There’s a lot of discussion about why the [Ernest] Schneider-era Breitling ignored the past. There’s a funny story — so Willy Breitling’s son, Gregory was living in Geneva and working for Harry Winston. Not even once did the Schneiders contact him. The first person to contact him was Georges Kern when he took over company management. Whatever the reason, for a long time Breitling ignored their heritage and did not support the collectors’ community. This led to something that I hope the book is going to change: a huge percentage of the Breitling Premier watches offered in the past were fake. It’s actually quite easy: you took a generic Swiss chronograph, produced a fake Breitling dial, and tried to sell it for more money. This has changed over the last few years, and the book will help even more, as there’s a collectors’ toolbox section that will allow you to immediately tell if a Breitling Premier is real or not.”

The Breitling Premier returns in 2018

Until only a few years ago, vintage was the only way for Breitling fans to get a Premier on their wrist. But that all changed in 2018, when the Premier made a triumphant return to the catalog and Breitling was once again in the business of dressy chronographs. This initial release was followed in 2021 by the Premier Heritage B09, a 40mm contemporary retro take on the classic, powered by the manually wound B09 movement and featuring a model with an especially striking pistachio dial. Sylvain Berneron is Breitling’s Creative Director, and he’s been involved with the Premier project since its earliest days. We caught up with Berneron, and got him to talk us through the process of updating an 80-year-old icon into a watch ready for the 21st century. “We originally drew the revamped collection based on the vintage pieces we had from the ’40s and ’50s,” he explained. “I’m responsible for the design team, so from the first sketch basically until we finalize the tooling and send the product into production.”

Breitling’s Creative Director, Sylvain Berneron; In 2021, the Brietling Premier B09 Chronograph 40 was released with a compelling pistachio dial

Community Feedback and inspiration

In 2018, only 12 months after Georges Kern assumed management of Breitling, they debuted the first evolution of the modern Premier, in 42mm chronographs and 40mm time-only and day-date versions. Berneron explained the response to this elegant debut: “The feedback we received in 2018 was really good. We had a lot of people reaching out and saying, ‘Oh thank you, this was such a long winter for us’. The only choice people who wanted this sort of watch had was to collect vintage examples, and now they can actually have one they can comfortably wear in daily life, and which offers the same aesthetics. It was a bold move. Growing a vintage design by three, four or five millimeters is not the easiest thing to do while retaining proportion and elegance.”Of course, while proponents of vintage watches might lament the increase in size of modern interpretations of classic designs — watch designers included — there’s usually a very good reason for it. Berneron explained: “To me it’s mainly the size of the pieces — in the vintage watches from the ’40s and ’50s they were mainly 36, 37 or 38mm cases. Movements were only manual wind, and the pieces were certainly not waterproof. Overall, the performance of the calibers was inferior to what we offer now (this might change in the future if the technology improves), but the biggest difference between the vintage and the modern versions is the size of the package. Because now we have automatic movements with longer power reserves that are way more precise, chronometry with waterproofness, and a screw-down caseback. We’ve added a whole host of modern attributes to the Premier that made the whole package grow — significantly. The minimum size we can offer these days is 40mm. These Premier pieces are 42mm because of the automatic winding system.” Of course, with a small size increase comes a whole range of contemporary improvements. Berneron goes into detail as to the elements of the new Premier models that really honor the spirit of the past. “Firstly, I think the overall proportions.

Capturing elegance as the main goal

We really wanted to capture the elegance and the finesse of these pieces. The goal was really targeted toward elegance and what I call ‘substance’ in terms of watchmaking. We have good movements, good case finishing and the same goes for the dial. We’ve done our homework with regard to the typography as well. We really reframed these designs to make sure they’re directly linked to Breitling’s heritage of the ’40s and ’50s, and I think we’ve managed that quite faithfully. The other side of the coin, compared to the vintage ones, is that you can wear these watches on a daily basis and not have to be worried. You have to be very careful with a 70- or 80-year-old watch. They’re not very versatile.”

In 2021 Breitling released a Premier B09 Chronograph 40 in stainless steel with a pistachio green dial, a Premier B15 Duograph 42 in 18k red gold with a black dial and a Premier B25 Datora 42 in stainless steel with a copper dial, contemporary takes on their 1940s ancestors

For Berneron, the appeal of the Breitling Premier is about more than it being an elegant chronograph reminiscent of a bygone era — it speaks of something more fundamental about Breitling, and about contemporary taste in watches. “For the last 10 years, we’ve seen an extreme domination of sports watches, and sporty integrated steel watches specifically. I think this has to do with modernity — we don’t have to be so formal these days, and we like to have one watch that can do it all. I understand that. But one specificity of Breitling that I like a lot is the width of its portfolio. We can make a gold Premier with a manually wound caliber, all the way up to a titanium Emergency, which is a professional device. This is, in my opinion, one of the main points of difference between Breitling and other watch brands; we really offer a wide spectrum, and it is very important for us to keep this legacy alive. At the moment we keep developing the Premier collection more for the love of the game than for commercial purposes. I might be dreaming, but I like to believe that the market operates like a pendulum. We’ve gone so far toward the integrated steel sports watch, and perhaps everyone has one in their collection — so perhaps we’ll see the return to slimmer pieces with more watchmaking substance involved.”

The Latest Additions

In red gold or steel, the opaline and black dials are the most classical expression of the Premier’s elegant aesthetic

There’s no doubting the substance of the latest members of the Premier collection. Eighty years after the initial debut of Breitling’s seminal chronograph, we’re treated to the latest incarnation: the Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 42. The first flush of this elegant update is six new models, all powered by one impressive movement, the Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01.

The new Premier models are powered by the Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01

Debuting in 2009, this purpose-built, integrated chronograph caliber is one of the most well-respected chronograph calibers currently in production, built with reliability and robustness in mind. What’s more, the Caliber 01 has been subtly improved over the years. The latest iteration redesigned in 2022 is slimmer than ever before, thanks to the more compact oscillating weight. What’s more, every aspect of the movement has been subjected to Breitling’s grueling 16-year testing regime, which simulates a lifetime of shocks (approximately 60,000 500G impacts), crown wear (more than 100,000 winds), chronograph pusher testing (approximately 5,840 starts, stops and resets), as well as testing the reliability of the weight itself (with nearly 3.5 million oscillations of the rotor). All this is backed by a five-year warranty, adding up to a movement that you can confidently wear day in and day out. Of course, it’s got the power reserve to match — offering 70 hours of autonomy off the wrist. And while the dials of the latest Premier models are the talking point, Breitling has been careful to show off their top-of-the-line chronograph movement too — you can get an uninterrupted view, thanks to the sapphire caseback.

The warm tones of the salmon dial are at once true to the origins and entirely on trend

Breitling has favored the classics for this debut collection, offering black, blue, salmon, green and cream dials — all with tonally matched subdials and applied dial hardware. The dial design is classical and restrained, with finely printed numerals, an outer tachymeter scale, a well-integrated date at six, and polished Arabic hour markers. Dial construction is quite technical too, with a multi-layered construction, and a mix of finishes to add richness and texture. A similar level of care has been applied to the handset too. The main hour hands are in the syringe style, elegantly pointed, and generously filled with luminous material. The cream and black dials are the most traditional, while the blue and green have a more contemporary flavor. However, the standout for many will be the salmon, a warm and pleasing hue that only accentuates the vintage flair of the Premier. As befitting the dressy nature of these 42mm Premiers, they come on rather dressy alligator leather straps, in colors matched with the dial. In case you’re looking for something a little more hardwearing or casual, there’s also the option of a steel bracelet, in Breitling’s famous seven-link pattern.

With green dial and steel bracelet, the classical design takes on a contemporary flair

Special mention needs to be made of the red gold model, offered with a cream dial with matching red- gold toned hands and hour markers, and fitted on a glossy brown alligator strap. This particular model really exemplifies the values and spirit of the Premier. Every element of this watch is of the finest quality, just like the very first Premier watches released by Willy Breitling 80 years ago. And while today, this dressy chronograph bucks the trend for sporty steel watches somewhat, good taste never goes out of style.

Despite its dressy demeanor, the Premier is built for daily wear

Breitling Premier Tech Specs

Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 42 In Steel

Movement: Self-winding Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01; 70-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes; date; chronograph
Case: 42mm x 13.6mm; stainless steel; water resistant to 100m
Strap: Alligator leather in a range of colors with folding buckle or a seven-row steel bracelet with a butterfly clasp

Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 42 In Red Gold

Movement: Self-winding Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01; 70-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes; small seconds; date; chronograph
Case: 42mm x 13.6mm; 18K red gold; water resistant to 100m
Strap: Brown alligator leather with an 18K red gold folding buckle or 18K red gold seven-row bracelet with a butterfly clasp

Reference

By Felix Scholz

Cartier: A Santos Story

May 3, 2023

Editor's Picks

By Wei Koh

Ulysse Nardin Freak One: The Rise of the Freaks

Mar 27, 2023

Editor's Picks

By Cheryl Chia

The Way of Resonance

Jan 30, 2023

Editor's Picks

By Ross Povey

Rolex Explorer everything you need to know about

Jun 2, 2021 6 minutes

Editor's Picks

By Cheryl Chia

The Complete History of the Chronograph Movement: 1940s–1980s

Mar 4, 2021

FROM THE SHOP

Vulcain

VULCAIN CRICKET ‘STYLE MODERNE’ FOR REVOLUTION & THE RAKE

$4,060.00

TECH SPECS

Movement	Manual winding caliber Vulcain V-10 alarm; 42-hour power reserve
Functions	Hours, minutes, seconds, alarm
Case	39mm × 12.7mm 316L stainless steel case; water resistant to 50m
Dial	Two-tone semi-matte dial with black printing and polished silver indexes
Strap	Brown calf leather strap; stainless steel pin buckle

The post Breitling: A Perfect Premier appeared first on Revolution Watch.

Cartier: A Santos Story

Felix Scholz — Wed, 03 May 2023 05:57:08 +0000

Cartier is very good at a great many things. As a watchmaker, it excels at the art of shaped watches. This might seem like a fairly simple task — after all, how hard can it be to convert a simple geometric shape into a watch — but over the years, Cartier has approached the challenge with a bold-yet-deft touch, resulting in some surprisingly sophisticated silhouettes.

Take, for example, the Santos — Cartier’s very first wristwatch and one of its most enduring. It is, essentially, a square watch with broad flanks and lugs, and an affinity for visible screws. In the hands of another maker, this design would be unequivocally masculine, yet Cartier’s design cleverly integrates a certain softness around the edges — a refinement that is somewhat surprising given that the original brief of this watch was a tool for a pioneering pilot.

An early yellow gold Santos, the archetypal modern wristwatch

This sophistication has ensured that the Santos design has remained not just relevant, but appealing to a broad demographic over time and place. We explore the story of the Santos, from its origins to its more sporty iterations and even the sublime skeleton versions.

The Man behind the Myth

Alberto Santos-Dumont grew up surrounded by innovation. Born in Brazil in 1873, he was the sixth son of engineer and prominent coffee farmer Henrique Dumont and Francisca de Paula Santos. The early years of Alberto’s life were characterized by his father’s work on railroads, and — even then — he was fascinated by the promise of modern mechanical engines and, above all, flight. When he was 15, he witnessed flight for the first time — a balloonist in São Paulo — and was hooked.

The pioneering aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont

In 1892, Santos-Dumont settled in France and, as is only appropriate for a well-heeled young man obsessed with modern technology, he became enamored with high-tech, high-adrenaline activities like automobile and cycle racing. Still, the sky called to him, and in the waning years of the 19th century, he purchased a balloon and took flight for the first time in 1898. His immense resources, combined with his passion, led to a rapid exploration of the world of flight. Santos-Dumont constructed balloons, dirigibles and, at the dawn of the 20th century, powered flight.

On October 19, 1901, after many attempts and several ships, Santos-Dumont attempted to win the prestigious Deutsch Prize in his No. 6 airship. This prize required an aeronaut to pilot a machine from Parc de Saint-Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back — a distance of some 11 kilometers. Moreover, to be eligible for the 100,000 franc purse, the flight had to be done in less than 30 minutes. Santos-Dumont completed the course in 29 minutes and 30 seconds, but took a minute to land. This initially led to the judgment from the Aéro-Club de France that he had not won, but public opinion was so great that the decision was reversed. As for the prize? Santos-Dumont gave it to his staff and the unemployed of Paris. The combination of innovation and high-stakes drama ensured that Santos- Dumont was a superstar and a true pioneer of flight.

Santos-Dumont wasn’t satisfied, though, he continued to push the envelope, especially in the field of heavier- than-air flight. A steady stream of gliders, early helicopters and eventually aeroplanes were developed with Santos- Dumont’s patronage, and in 1906 he made the first publicly witnessed manned powered flight in Europe in the 14-bis.

Monsieurs Cartier and Santos-Dumont

Of course, there was more to Alberto Santos-Dumont than aviation. As an exceptionally wealthy aristocrat, he was one of the Parisian elite. It is unsurprising then that he mingled in the same circles as Louis Cartier, who was as important a pioneer in the realm of timekeeping as Santos- Dumont was in the world of flight. So it came about that in 1904, Louis Cartier presented his friend with a singular timekeeper, a sturdy square, meant to be worn on the wrist rather than in the pocket, likely developed with Edmond Jaeger. Over time, the cultural and stylistic associations of this seminal design have changed significantly — but it’s important to remember that in 1904 this watch was built with pure purpose in mind. For those short flights, time mattered, and Santos-Dumont certainly didn’t want to be fiddling with pocket watches. By putting his watch on the wrist so that it was always accessible, Louis Cartier not only provided Santos-Dumont with a valuable tool, but inadvertently revolutionized how watches were worn.

The Style of the Times

Of course, no matter how utilitarian its intent, there is no denying that Louis Cartier’s creation for his friend is a work of beauty. Paris in the early 20th century was a cultural and artistic hub, and more than ever before, the lines between industrial production and artistic expression were blurred. So it was that Cartier’s creation eschewed the conventional round form of pocket watches, in favor of something bolder, more geometric — a square. The case and the lugs which attached the strap were a single piece, fluid thanks to the curves on the corners, but also strong. The raised bezel made no attempt to hide its screws, a nod perhaps to the spirit of industry and innovation that gave birth to creations like the Eiffel Tower.

Cartier’s original 1904 creation is lost to history, but thankfully, the legacy didn’t end there. In 1908, Louis Cartier returned to this bold new form of timekeeper, making it available for sale in 1911, and the watch was well-received. After all, the world was changing, and style was rejecting the pomp and over-the-top fussiness of the last century’s fashion in favor of clean lines, new shapes and a bold vision of the future. Cartier’s new style of watchmaking — a journey that began with the Santos and that would continue with the Tonneau, Tank and more — was perfectly in line with this new aesthetic, a movement commonly referred to in English as Art Deco.

Art Deco inspired grandeur at its finest, the latest limited edition Santos-Dumont

Stylish, All the time

What’s remarkable is that the Santos-Dumont, as it is now known, is as stylish today as it was 100 years ago. The remarkable longevity of this seemingly simple design is something Cartier’s heritage, image and style director, Pierre Rainero, is acutely aware of. “Let’s not forget that the Santos watch is the first modern wristwatch ever and the first watch designed to be worn on the wrist,” Rainero explains. “Behind that model, the values associated are about adversity, and there is also a good comprehension of the evolution of people’s way of life. There is a strong difference in that watch but also an idea of relevance. And I think, for instance, that the fact that we offered very quickly the possibility to wear it differently with a metal bracelet or leather strap shows that adaptation to the way of life.” Originally, the Santos-Dumont was made as a pilot’s tool; today it is one of the definitive dress watches. While the function has changed, the form remains the same.

Of course, the Santos-Dumont has retained its special identity as the spiritual successor of Cartier’s first wristwatch. It began to achieve mythic status in the late ’90s, with the Collection Privée Cartier Paris (CPCP), which saw the production of a highly coveted platinum edition with a salmon dial. This really started to encapsulate the possibility of the Santos-Dumont. According to renowned Cartier expert George Cramer, “The Santos-Dumont has, for a long time, been one of the most exclusive models, along with the Tank Cintrée and the Tonneau — they were always harder to find.” Until now.

This brings us to the contemporary version of the Santos-Dumont, which rejoined the core collection in 2019 to critical acclaim. These core releases come in a range of styles and sizes — all of them elegant. Having said that, it is hard to compete with a trilogy of watches released earlier in 2022. Offered in three versions, this large cased take on the Santos is perfectly sized for masculine wrists, and is powered by the ultra thin caliber 430 MC. What truly makes this limited edition offering stand out, though, was the sophistication and subtlety of the design. Not only was the soft, warm cream-toned dial marked with a barely perceptible radial geometric pattern, but Cartier’s typical highly contrasting numerals and hands were eschewed in favor of tonally matching gold hardware.

The other remarkable aspect of this watch is how restrained the typically lustrous rose gold is — it appears warmer, and somehow softer. This ingenious party trick is thanks to the creamy, beige-colored lacquer on the lugs and bezel, applied into recesses and then polished back. Not only does this create a seductively smooth surface, but it allows the edges of the case and bezel, as well as the bezel screws, to shine bright. This treatment is a masterclass in the sophisticated use of color and highlights the sophisticated shape of the Santos-Dumont in a manner that is novel in the truest sense of the word. George Cramer describes this lacquered approach as a “fusion between traditional watchmaking and Métiers d’Art.” Truly something remarkable for what is essentially a century-old design.

Note the subltle play of lacquer and light on the edges of this gold case

A Tale of Two Santos

The traditionally styled Santos-Dumont is not the only watch to bear that name, for another Santos was made. Santos de Cartier bears the same essential silhouette, but has an entirely separate personality.

Pierre Rainero describes this duality: “Effectively, in the original Santos watch, there is a twofold identity. In a way, Santos-Dumont adopted the creation of Cartier because it was very convenient, but also, he wanted an object that should be elegant. We have the two sides, the side of how convenient it is to wear it on a day-to-day basis, even in exceptional circumstances, but also an object that shows the elegance of the wearer and the beauty of your object. They are two different ways of wearing it: the Santos-Dumont is a very thin watch with leather straps only, whilst the Santos [de Cartier] is bolder.”

It’s hard to beat a solid gold Santos for impact

The Bold and The Bracelet

In 1978, Cartier reimagined the Santos — creating a wildly popular design that is now known as the Santos de Cartier. It emerged from an era of great change — both in society and culture, and within the company of Cartier. The dominant trend in watches during the ’70s was, in Switzerland at least, guided by fear. Quartz technology was rapidly moving from the realm of technical possibility and into the domain of crippling commercial reality for mechanical watchmakers. For many brands — even established ones like Cartier — it was adapt or die, and Cartier, under the leadership of Robert Hocq and Alain- Dominique Perrin, opted for the former.

In 1978, Santos de Cartier made a reappearance, now with a sporty new look in gold and steel

First came their affordable take on the Tank — the Must de Cartier — and then came the brand’s inspired entry into a brand new genre, the luxury sports watch, an exciting new genre pioneered by the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus, among others. Cartier’s new take on the Santos was steel — a first for the prestigious brand — with an industrial aesthetic offset by the then unconventional use of gold highlights in the form of the bezel and the bracelet screws. Says George Cramer on this (at the time) unconventional release: “When the Santos was launched in 1978, it was a very successful watch because it was Cartier’s first non- precious metal watch, and one of the first watches made in steel with gold. It was presented at an accessible price point, made possible thanks to the ETA caliber, along with the fact that Cartier was viewed as more of a fashion brand at the time. These factors were probably part of the reason that the Santos was never considered in the same category as the Royal Oak and Nautilus.”

As the ’70s turned into the ’80s, this sporty Santos proved to be a hit. New models and versions joined the catalog, and the distinctive two-tone watch became part of the cultural zeitgeist. There was a reason Michael Douglas wore a gold Santos in Wall Street, after all. In 1987, the blocky Santos evolved into the Santos Galbée. Some of the hard lines were smoothed out, and the watch flowed more seamlessly on the wrist. The Santos Galbée evolution set the tone for the look of the model for the next 30 years, and when Cartier revamped the line in 2018, it was unmistakably a descendent of both this sportier model, and the original Santos.

While the shape remained the same, many of the finer details had changed. The new Santos de Cartier was made with the wearer in mind. Not only were on-the- wrist ergonomics improved, but the strap was attached to the case using a QuickSwitch system, a seamless, tool-free innovation that works with both leather straps and bracelets. Speaking of bracelets, this release made changing bracelet links easy, thanks to SmartLink technology. And honestly, while this watch works well on a strap, it was born on a bracelet, which is where it shines, especially in solid gold.

Less is More

While Cartier is most famous for shaped watchmaking, it’s far from the only arrow in their quiver. The maison also has a strong reputation for skeleton watches. Before we dive into the details, it’s worth a quick digression on the difference between skeleton and skeletonized. The latter is the result of taking a standard caliber and paring it back, removing excess metal to reveal the mechanism beneath. A skeleton caliber takes the opposite approach, and has been built from the ground up to showcase the gears, wheels and all the rest. It’s a harder, more intensive approach that generally looks more cohesive. It’s also the approach that Cartier prefers.

In fact, the brand was one of the first to design dedicated skeleton movements. George Cramer explains: “Cartier built their 9611 MC caliber from scratch. Instead of eliminating everything that’s possible from an existing caliber like it was usually done. This way of working gave the watchmakers and designers the possibility to rearrange the various components and to turn the movement plates into numerals. The caliber was introduced in a Santos 100 case, but was rearranged to fit the Santos- Dumont. Later on, the Crash, Tank Asymétrique and the Cloche Skeleton followed. All with movements following the same principle.”

Pierre Rainero further elaborates on what this interesting and technically demanding style of watchmaking means for Cartier: “The skeleton is for us very much into our way of looking at the technical part of an object, meaning that the technique is always at the service of the aesthetics. In that case, the skeleton is a way of showing the beauty of a movement, and in fact, we work on the aesthetics of the movement in order to show it and to integrate it in the shape of a watch in a beautiful way. It’s also the idea of playing with transparency. Let’s not forget that Cartier created the mystery clocks — going to the extremes of transparency to the point that the movement disappears. In the case of a skeleton, the movement doesn’t disappear, but everything that is not totally useful to it is removed, and I think it’s another way of working on the idea of transparency. It’s very much Cartier.”

This year, Cartier added three new Santos de Cartier Skeletons, designs that built on the popular ADLC “Noctambule” design unveiled in 2019. Form-wise, these steel cased designs hew closely to the classic design, with the caliber 9611 MC movement bridges doing double duty as Roman numerals. What really stands out, though, is the use of color. There’s a model with blue dial details, bezel and rubber strap. A more muted option is the steel and gray version, which comes on a bracelet and gray alligator strap. Finally, there’s a stunning green offering, which is — quite simply — gorgeous.

Three takes on a century-old form proves just how versatile the Santos silhouette is

For Rainero, the color serves a specific purpose. “The intention was really to explore new ways of making this watch beautiful. And we thought that adding color was a way of also showing the strength of the original design and introducing new variations. That’s the essence of Cartier: to create variety on the basis of original designs.”

It’s clear, based on the freshness of this trio of skeletons, that Louis Cartier’s design, first laid down over a century ago, is as relevant as ever. Indeed, the Santos is a story for the ages.

It isn’t just the skeleton caliber, it’s the refined case ergonomics that makes this Santos sing

Tech Specs

Cartier Santos-Dumont With Lacquered Case and Bezel

References: CRWSSA0046 (steel); CRWGSA0053 (platinum); CRWGSA0054 (rose gold)
Movement: Manual winding caliber 430 MC; 38-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes
Case: 43.5mm × 31.4mm; steel, platinum or 18K rose gold; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Black, white or cream colored, lacquered with concentric square pattern; applied Roman numerals
Strap: Black, burgundy or dark green alligator leather; ardillon buckle in matching metal
Price: AUD 24,700 in rose gold, AUD 8,950 for steel and AUD 28,300 for platinum
Availability: Numbered and limited editions of 150 pieces in platinum and 250 pieces in rose gold

Cartier Santos De Cartier in Yellow Gold

Reference: CRWGSA0029
Movement: Self-winding caliber 1847 MC; 42-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds and date
Case: 47.5mm × 39.8mm; 18K yellow gold; water resistant to 100m
Dial: Silvered opaline; black Roman numerals
Strap: Interchangeable yellow gold bracelet with QuickSwitch system; additional brown alligator leather with yellow gold folding clasp
Price: AUD 51,000

Cartier Santos De Cartier Skeleton

References: WHSA0026 (blue), WHSA0027 (gray), WHSA0028 (green)
Movement: Manual winding caliber 9611 MC; 72-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes
Case: 47.5mm × 39.8mm; stainless steel; water resistant to 100m
Dial: Openworked, blue, green or gray
Strap: Interchangeable steel bracelet with QuickSwitch system; additional blue, green or gray alligator leather with steel folding clasp
Price: AUD 44,600 in blue or green dial; AUD 43,300 in gray dial

The post Cartier: A Santos Story appeared first on Revolution Watch.

The Hero with a Thousand Faces: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Wei Koh — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:00:24 +0000

In 1949, an avuncular professor with a penchant for batik shirts at Sarah Lawrence College published one of the most seminal and influential books of all time, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In it, Joseph Campbell explained the existence of a single heroic archetype, a monomyth that stretched across all cultures and transcended the boundaries of time. His book demonstrated that every single hero in human history, literature, mythology and religion all followed the same heroic arc. They are plucked from obscurity, initially resist their calling, are compelled into their journey by a twist of fate, find mentors, struggle, persevere, suffer before ultimately achieving their heroic status and returning reborn to the world to contribute to its benefit. Campbell showed that every one of these heroes from Odysseus to the Buddha to Joan of Arc to Mohandas K. Gandhi to even Jesus of Nazareth followed this same journey. This exact same journey could be used to describe the lives of real living heroes that existed many years after the book’s release, including individuals like Muhammad Ali.

Let’s take a quick look at Ali’s life. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to a sign painter and a domestic helper. At the age of 12, he has his bicycle stolen and fortuitously takes up boxing. He wins an Olympic Gold medal but throws it in the river because of being denied service at a “white only” restaurant. In 1964, against all odds, he wins the heavyweight championship, despite his opponent Sonny Liston trying to blind him with ointment applied to his gloves. He finds a mentor in American religious leader Elijah Muhammad and converts to Islam. Then three years later, at the peak of his career and at the height of his ability, he is banned from boxing for being a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. The three and a half years he is not allowed to fight represent the period of his greatest fitness — time he will never get back. In 1971, the ban is overturned. But his return to the ring is marred by his first professional defeat and the belief is that his career is over. He is at a low point in his life. But in 1974, at the age of 32 and considered largely washed up by many, he defeats the most feared and dominating fighter of the era, George Foreman, to once again become champion. The way his story perfectly fits Campbell’s monomyth is astounding. Ultimately, the takeaway is that every hero in human history is essentially the same archetypal entity recast in many guises over and over again. Their different appearances are simply the product of the historical and cultural contexts of their time to make them relatable to us.

Muhammad Ali & Arnold Schwarzenegger at Audemars Piguet's Time To Give Celebrity Watch Auction For Charity, held at Christie's Auction House in New York City, 2000. (Image: Nick Elgar/ImageDirect)

Over the 50 years of its history, Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak has similarly been recast in many iterations, each time to fit the zeitgeist of that decade, or to unveil a new unrealized dimension of the watch’s character. To paraphrase the poet Walt Whitman, the Royal Oak is large, and it contains multitudes. It has been a mid-sized formed art piece that has been the canvas of wildly libidinous chromatic expressionism. It has been the vessel for extraordinary complications, like the world’s loudest and sonically pure minute repeater and an ultra-thin automatic flying tourbillon. It has worn many guises, clad itself in steel first, then gold, platinum, tantalum, titanium and black then white ceramic. But each time it has been reborn, each new version has only served to strengthen the heroic archetype and monomyth of the legendary Royal Oak — never a simple extrapolation but a model with a sense of purpose, singularity and necessity.

Everlasting Elegance

The story of the Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin Reference 15202 is, to me, inextricably linked with the story of Audemars Piguet’s CEO François-Henry Bennahmias. If not for Bennahmias’ decision to rebuild the Royal Oak collection and reinforce the position of the Jumbo within the collection in 2012, we would not be seeing the current insane success of the luxury watch market. Why? Because of all categories — excluding Rolex sports models, which comprise a different world unto themselves — it is the integrated bracelet sports chic watch that is the hottest genre of high-end timepieces around. This was a category created in 1972 by Audemars Piguet and the Royal Oak, and made once again the focus of the brand 40 years later in 2012.

An original Royal Oak leaflet from 1972

François-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet

The Royal Oak Extra-Thin "Jumbo" ref. 15202 reinforces the longevity of Gérald Genta’s original design regardless of case material or dial color

A full decade on, so successful has the Royal Oak been that every single reference of it made in its myriad iterations has also become a wait-list-only success story. But more than that, so huge is the demand for anything Royal Oak that it has actually allowed other brands to succeed where they were previously floundering.

Audemars Piguet collector and 2021 Geneva Grand Prix d’Horlogerie (GPHG) jury member Ahmed “Shary” Rahman declares, “If you were going to give a prize to the greatest CEO of the modern watch era, I would say many people would immediately point to François-Henry Bennahmias. Because he took the Royal Oak and made it the single most desired watch on the planet. He also made the entire family of watches, such as the ceramic perpetual calendars or the ultra-thin perpetuals, or the double balance wheel and even the 41mm tourbillons, so vibrant and relevant with incredible designs and strong material innovation.”

Ahmed Rahman (a.k.a. Shary), @time_mechanic

When people ask why the Royal Oak in particular is the watch that has been foremost on the expanding watch market’s acquisitional radar, the parallels with a Christopher Nolan movie become even more remarkable. Rahman lends some insights, “Aha, the reason the Royal Oak is the first watch a new affluent collector thinks of, especially in the United States, is because of all the work Bennahmias did there in the early 2000s as the CEO of Audemars Piguet North America. He implanted that watch into the consumer subconscious by placing it on the wrist of every rapper, athlete and actor of note. At one point, everyone from Pharrell to Jay-Z was wearing a Royal Oak. Now, ask yourself, who are the biggest stars in music today? It’s still Pharrell and Jay-Z. François understood that 20 years before everyone else did.”

Jay-Z

Pharrell Williams

Audemars Piguet’s head of complications Michael Friedman adds, “Understanding what the 15202 meant to all of us, I think other brands would have felt hesitant to discontinue it. But that’s what I admire most about François — his sense of fearlessness which is also the greatest strength of Audemars Piguet. After all, the 15202 is itself part of an ongoing journey of the Jumbo. We have never been afraid to innovate and be first. Just like the way we were in 1972 when we created the entire category of integrated bracelet sports watches.” Indeed, when it was announced that the universally beloved 15202 would be discontinued last year, it sent secondary prices even higher.

Royal Oak Extra-Thin "Jumbo" ref. 15202BC

“They were hovering above 100,000 US dollars at the time, but when the discontinuation was announced, they broke the 200,000-dollar ceiling and just kept going,” says Austen Chu, 2021 GPHG jury member and the founder of pre-owned watch business Wristcheck.com. While other brands might have felt enormous pressure to replace such an icon, it seemed that Audemars Piguet was simply having fun, so well were they hitting their stride. And at the beginning of this year when the 15202’s successor was unveiled, the reaction was immediate and unanimous; the 16202 was not only a worthy successor but it was probably the most beautifully executed time and date only Royal Oak ever created.

Austen Chu

While the new watch retained the exact same dimensions as its predecessor, 39mm in diameter and 8.1mm in thickness, it was the movement beating inside that was the true innovation. Like the original 5402 from 1972, the previous watch was equipped with the caliber 2121, which had undergone incremental improvements over the decades. This was, at the time of its launch, the world’s thinnest full rotor automatic movement. Its predecessor was the caliber 2120, which came without date indication and was introduced just a few years earlier in 1967. It was jointly developed by LeCoutre & Cie (renamed Jaeger-LeCoultre in 1979), Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin and was originally designated the caliber 920 by Jaeger-LeCoultre. For a long time, the movement blank was produced by Jaeger-LeCoultre, before being brought in-house in the Audemars Piguet workshops at the beginning of the 21st century. The movement was, by any standards, spectacular and innovative. One of its most notable technical solutions was that the winding rotor incorporated a peripheral beryllium ring supported by ruby rollers. Additionally, the movement was equipped with a free-sprung balance, which had semi-circular weights that can be adjusted to vary the inertia of the balance. But when it came to the Royal Oak’s 50th anniversary, it was clearly time for a change.

For a long time, the outgoing cal. 2121 that powered the original 5402 stood as the thinnest full rotor automatic movement with date indication, measuring 3.05mm high. Notably, it featured a beryllium ring integrated into the rotor, which rides on ruby rollers

Friedman explains, “One of the charming idiosyncrasies of the 2121 is the semi quick-set date where you need to turn the minute from nine to past 12 and then back again to advance the date. In the context of 1972, this was considered technically advanced for a movement that was only 3.05mm in height and that allowed us to create a watch that was just over 7mm in thickness. When we introduced the 15202 in 2000, the thickness of the watch increased to 8.1mm because we incorporated a sapphire caseback. For the 16202, we wanted to keep the dimensions exactly the same but introduce a totally different modern movement.” How good is the new caliber 7121 in the 16202? Check this out: It features 55 hours of power reserve over the previous movement’s 40 hours, it has a far more shock resistant vibrational speed of 28,800vph over the 2121’s quirky 19,800vph. It features a full-sized rotor mounted on ultra-efficient ceramic ball bearings. And importantly, its date is quick-set.

In marking the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet introduced the ref. 16202, a faithful remake equipped with a new and improved movement

The impressively constructed cal. 7121 replaces the cal. 2121, which has powered all previous generations of the “Jumbo”

But look closely at the movement architecture. Says François-Henry Bennahmias, “We already had the most iconic watch from the front. Now we wanted to make the watch equally iconic from the back. The team came up with the idea of incorporating the signature full traversing skeletonized balance bridge from the Double Balance Wheel into the movement. They used it not just for the free sprung balance, but also for the barrel, so you see these two signature bridges right away. We decided to make them pink gold toned so that as soon as you turn the watch over, that’s the first thing your eye sees.”

Straddling both performance and aesthetics in equal measure, the cal. 7121 offers a longer power reserve and a higher beat rate while being slim, beautifully designed with two symmetrical bridges for the barrel and balance respectively.

Roy Davidoff, 2021 GPHG jury member, shares his thoughts on it. “There is something about the new 16202 that you put on your wrist and you just say ‘Wow.’ It’s just so stunning in the metal. Every single collector who’s seen one up close has had the same reaction. We thought it was impossible to improve on the 15202 but Audemars Piguet did it, and considering the new movement, it’s a significant improvement.” The 16202 was launched in four versions, steel with the signature Bleu Nuit, Nuage 50 Petite Tapisserie dial, rose gold with a smoked gray dial, an achingly beautiful yellow gold version with a smoked gold-colored dial, and a platinum version with a smoked green dial. It also comes in two ravishing openworked executions. Collectively, the 16202 is the perfect evolution of the 15202, first launched in 2000. This period in between will one day be regarded as one of the most significant decades in not just Audemars Piguet’s but also the watch world’s history. Now, let’s look at the other models that comprise the rich heroic tapestry of the Royal Oak to understand this better.

Mid-Sized Masterpieces

One fascinating aspect of the Royal Oak’s story is that the original Jumbo at a diameter of 39mm that belied an astoundingly elegant 7.2mm in thickness was, as its sobriquet implied, somewhat polarizing for its size. And while after a full half century of existence history has affirmed the 39mm watch as perfect in proportion, in the context of the late ’70s and well through the ’90s, the prevailing taste then was for a smaller sized watch. Fortunately, Audemars Piguet had one Jacqueline Dimier as creative director. In 1976, she went against stereotypes and offered a new take with the Royal Oak II reference 8638. It measured a mere 29mm in diameter and was the first Royal Oak for women. In 1977, she created the Royal Oak III reference 4100, a 35mm in diameter watch that took the stunning formed art iconography of the 5402 and reconceptualized it in a decidedly smaller package. Michael Friedman explains, “The 4100 and the subsequent ‘mid-sized’ Royal Oak models represent an amazing design achievement in that they are in every way a Royal Oak. They tap into and express the powerful formed art blueprint envisioned by Gérald Genta, but now in a smaller and more wearable version for a wide variety of wrists. I’ve always loved these watches. And Jacqueline Dimier’s work with them is also a showcase for the extraordinary creativity of Audemars Piguet at the time, when it came to material innovation and audacity in color.”

Measuring 35mm wide, the Royal Oak III ref. 4100 was a masterful exercise in downsizing while keeping the design codes of the legendary original intact

The 4100 model is immediately distinguished from the 5402 by the existence of a center seconds hand, the design so well-executed that it was as if the mid-sized model had been created side by side with the original. The beauty of Dimier’s design is that the watch still possesses the same dynamic tension between an aggressive, even muscular presence, in contrast with its prima ballerina-like litheness in profile. A quick note on the caliber 2123: This movement was launched in 1977 at 4Hz or 28,800vph, a decidedly more modern and shock resistant speed than the 2.5Hz of the 2121. It was a full 2mm smaller in diameter than the 2121 and just 0.2mm thicker despite the addition of a center seconds. It is believed that just under 9,000 units of this movement were made between 1977 and 1984, which demonstrated how popular the mid-sized center seconds Royal Oak was.

“The important thing about the 4100 is that it showed how responsive Audemars Piguet was to the prevailing cultural tastes, and this watch brought the magic and appeal of the incredible Royal Oak to a much broader audience,” says Friedman. “There is a great parallel between this and the Royal Oak Offshore, which would push the Royal Oak’s iconography in a completely different direction. Both these models show that Audemars Piguet has always been on the pulse of understanding the prevailing zeitgeist of any era.”

Bennahmias agrees, “I want to be clear that this is not Audemars Piguet responding to trend. Quite the opposite, it is Audemars Piguet’s courage and fearlessness to take the leader’s position when it comes to innovation.”

Rahman adds, “What is clear is that if we can agree that the integrated bracelet sports watch is the most popular kind of watch today, then the entire industry would not be where it is today or seeing the levels of incredible success now, were it not for Audemars Piguet creating this genre in 1972 with the Royal Oak. When I look at owning this watch, I think of it as possessing the very original. The Alpha. The Prima. The one that started it all.”

Just to show you how creative Audemars Piguet was when it came to the Royal Oak mid-sized models, the watches were launched in rapid succession, with the 4332 in 1983, the 56023 with a quartz movement in 1982, the 25572 day-date model in 1983, the magnificent 25594 day-date with moon phase model in 1984, the 14486 with screw-down crown in 1986, and the stunning 14700 debuted in 1990. Then in 1992, Audemars Piguet launched what has to be considered one of modern watchmaking’s most seminal and iconic timepieces, the legendary 14790 mid-sized Royal Oak that measures 36mm in diameter. This model was so successful that it ran from 1992 to 2005 for an amazing 13 years. The model was made in at least 10 different materials and many varied dial combinations. It is this watch that would be made in an amazing steel and tantalum version, and that would include chromatically resplendent dial variations such as the yellow, red and Yves Klein blue versions which were showcased in Phillips’ thematic Royal Oak 50th Auction that took place on May 6, 2022. It is clear from the results posted by these watches that the collectibility of mid-sized Royal Oak models is experiencing a tremendous rise.

A 1982 advertisement of the mid-sized Royal Oaks targeted at women

The 36mm Royal Oak ref. 14700 launched in 1990 and its successor, the ref. 14790 that remained in the catalogue for 13 years from 1992 to 2005

“The different metal combinations, the gemset dials, the incredible array of vivid colors — the 14790 was one of the greatest canvases for Audemars Piguet’s creative expressionism and yielded watches that were truly ahead of their time,” shares Friedman. Such is the interest in these watches that the 14790 has now been classified to have three distinct dial types with the first series being the most valuable. For those interested in learning more about the 14790, I would recommend reading the fantastic article by my friend Russell Sheldrake at A Collected Man.

Audemars Piguet continued the mid-sized tradition with the reference 15450, which is 37mm in diameter by 9.8mm in thickness. Housed inside was Audemars Piguet’s in-house caliber 3120, an automatic center seconds movement with a 3Hz vibrational speed and 60 hours of power reserve. It was introduced along with its 41mm sibling, the 15400, in 2012. While the larger watch has been since updated to the 15500 in 2019, the 15450’s endurance speaks to its long lasting appeal. It is finally replaced this year with the reference 15550, which is 8.9mm in thickness and powered by the new self-winding movement, caliber 5900, which beats at 4Hz with 60 hours of power reserve.

The launch of the seminal references 15400 and 15450 came with the introduction of the latest and now legendary 15202. As that watch was 39mm, it made sense that Audemars Piguet would want to further differentiate the Royal Oak models featuring its excellent center seconds and quick-set date, and powered by its in-house caliber 3120. As such, they discontinued the 39mm 15300 and replaced it with a 41mm and a 37mm model. The significance of the latter was that it marked the re-introduction of the mid-sized Royal Oak. Interestingly, a decade later, we now see prevailing tastes return to more classically proportioned timepieces, after a heady dalliance with oversized cases in the new millennium’s first decade. As a result, the 15450 has found immense appeal with a new generation of customers. One important design flourish was the return of the double baton applied indexes at 12 o’clock. While the 14790 and even the 15300 had the AP logo at 12, the double baton indexes bring the mid-sized model in alignment with the dial of the original Royal Oak as well as the resplendent 15202 and now the 16202.

Yellow gold executions of the 37mm Royal Oak ref. 15450 and 33mm ref. 67651

A Case for Complications

1997 was a momentous year for the Royal Oak. The model celebrated its 25th anniversary with several extraordinary complicated timepieces, including, for the very first time, a tourbillon as well as the first Royal Oak Grande Complication featuring a perpetual calendar, minute repeater and split seconds chronograph. The Grande Complication was also a celebration for Audemars Piguet’s growing dominance in the field of high complications. One huge asset for Audemars Piguet regarding this was the acquisition of a 52 percent stake in Renaud & Papi in 1992, a high complications dream factory founded by genius watchmakers Giulio Papi and Dominique Renaud, who met early on in their careers when working for Audemars Piguet. Today, Renaud & Papi is wholly owned by Audemars Piguet. But in the context of the late ’80s and early ’90s, it was this pair of watchmakers that was driving the resurgence in high complications. Amongst the most famous specializations of Giulio Papi is a mastery of chiming complications. Together with the manufacture, he created the only third known grande and petite sonnerie wristwatch movement in existence. Today, Giulo continues to develop movements for other brands and is in fact responsible for many of the most decade-defining movements in watchmaking. He notably expressed his love for rattrapantes with two of Richard Mille’s most seminal watches, the RM 004 split seconds chronograph and the RM 008 — essentially the same watch but with the addition of a tourbillon.

Launched in 1997 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Royal Oak, the ref. 25831 was the first Royal Oak Tourbillon and the only Royal Oak with the crown located on the caseback

The first Royal Oak Grande Complication is a merger of two eras: Audemars Piguet’s leadership position in calendar and chiming watches since the beginning of the company and the mastery of modern high complications as represented by the Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi era (APRP, now known as AP Le Locle). As such, each of the complications contained within the 1997 Grande Complication is special in its expression of a facet of the brand’s competence. Over the last 25 years of its existence, the Grande Complication has always represented the sort of endgame when it came to Royal Oak watches; in some ways, it is the polar opposite of the pure time and date only model that started it all in 1972.

The 1997 Royal Oak Grand Complication 25865 built by Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi

At the same time, the Grande Complication represents a mastery of design. It has also been the inspiration for many of Audemars Piguet’s other models. For example, its week of the year indicator was integrated in the updated version of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in 1995, in this case used as a centrally mounted hand that read off a scale at the perimeter of the dial. Its iconography gave rise to the designs for both the Royal Oak Chronograph, which was also released in 1997 for the model’s 25th anniversary, and the current Royal Oak Supersonnerie, a groundbreaking minute repeater. The Grande Complication is a 648-component masterpiece of finish and technical élan that requires six to eight months for assembly and decoration. It has been made in both sublimely nuanced closed dial watches with the famous Petite Tapisserie motif on the dial and also truly transcendent openworked versions to mark extraordinary occasions during Audemars Piguet’s history. The current collection offers up a steel openworked masterpiece that, as with all Royal Oak models, is incredibly wearable with a diameter of just 44mm and a thickness of 15mm.

The 2009 Royal Oak Grande Complication Openworked ref. 26065

Introduced in 2019, the Royal Oak Supersonnerie featured a truly brilliant sound amplification technology and minute repeater to the model’s iconic case, a technology first launched in 2015 in the Royal Oak Concept collection. The result? A timepiece that can only be described as sonic and visual perfection. Bennahmias shares, “The Supersonnerie was born out of our desire to constantly innovate, this time in terms of creating the best sounding striking watches in the world.”

The groundbreaking Royal Oak Minute Repeater Supersonnerie ref. 26591 incorporates a patented technology to enhance the acoustics of the repeater

Friedman elaborates, “The Supersonnerie was the result of our Acoustic Research Team. It was an eight-year development between Audemars Piguet and the EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, to research the very nature of sound. The watch features a double caseback. The first layer is what we call a Resonating Membrane. It is crafted from titanium and this is where the circular gongs are attached. It acts as a soundboard that amplifies the sound of the gongs considerably. In addition, because there is a second caseback with slots for the sound to escape, the space in between the membrane and the outer caseback acts like a resonance chamber.”

A caseback with cut-outs on its periphery sits over the soundboard, allowing sound to escape the case

In 2015, when I was brought into the room to listen to the incredible RD#1, the experimental watch that featured the Supersonnerie technology, it went like this: They closed the soundproof door in the small room and played the watch. Honestly, it sounded like sound was being broadcasted by incredibly high-quality speakers from all around me, such was the volume of the Supersonnerie. But even more remarkable was the quality of the watch’s sound, which again is a nod to the in-house mastery of the striking complication at Audemars Piguet. While the initial RD#1 model featured a Royal Oak Concept case and a movement replete with both a tourbillon and chronograph, the Supersonnerie made its way to the Royal Oak case four years later.

The 2015 Royal Oak Concept RD#1 that introduced the Supersonnerie

To call the Royal Oak the perfect home for the Supersonnerie is to me extremely justifiable. First, at 42mm in diameter and just 14mm in thickness, it is extraordinarily wearable. Second, it is a masterpiece of understated cool. Indeed, most people would simply mistake it for a 41mm 15500, except, of course, for the seconds subdial at six o’clock and the repeater slide at the side of the case. But both of these elements are so delicately integrated that you need to seriously look to identify them. The two models offered both a titanium case and bracelet, making them featherweights on the wrist. But press the repeater slide and suddenly space around you instantly transforms as people stop, children gasp and even small dogs freeze as the Supersonnerie enacts what can only described as sonic alchemy.

For Bennahmias, that’s the beauty of this model. “It’s so easy to wear and so discreet only you know you have the ultimate minute repeater on your wrist, and you get to choose when you want to activate it, sharing the experience with others you deem worthy or keeping it for yourself if you prefer. The thing about a Royal Oak complication is that it is always elegant.”

Wonderful Whirlwinds

It seemed like a matter of predestination that the Royal Oak case would eventually become synonymous with the tourbillon. After all, it was Audemars Piguet that would first introduce the world to a serially produced wristwatch tourbillon in 1986. This watch was, from a technical perspective, one of the most significant achievements in modern horology. It was, at the time of its creation, the world’s smallest and thinnest self-winding tourbillon watch. It was engineered in an absolutely revolutionary way with the caseback of the watch acting as the movement’s mainplate to aid in slimness. For this reason, the movement’s jewels are visible on the caseback. It was the first tourbillon to use a titanium cage. Its winding system used a special hammer shaped mass. Eleven years later, the tourbillon complication made its way to the iconic Royal Oak and it was as if this complication and this case shape were created with each other in mind, such was the perfection of their synergy. Friedman explains, “1997 was an incredible year for Audemars Piguet. I was working as the curator of the National Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania, at the time, so it also happens to be the year that I became aware and interested in Audemars Piguet in ‘real time,’ not just through the historical lens! 1997 was highlighted by the introduction of the first Royal Oak Tourbillon (25831), which remains the only Royal Oak with the winding crown on the back of the watch. This amazing timepiece would set the stage for two of our most important watches today. The first is the stunning 41mm Tourbillon Extra-Thin introduced in 2012. And the second is, of course, the incredible Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Extra-Thin RD#3 launched in 2022.”

A fitting accomplishment to mark the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak, the new automatic flying tourbillon occupies exactly the same dimensions as its time and date sibling, the 16202, at 39mm in diameter and 8.1mm in thickness. What is clear is that the RD#3 was developed at the same time Audemars Piguet designed the caliber 7121. Its format is essentially the same and it features the same distinct hand finished and beveled bridge for the barrel. Look at the tourbillon and you’ll see the same signature uniquely shaped free sprung balance wheel that integrates the six small circular masses used to regulate it, into its aerodynamically shaped rim. As a subtle but important design detail, the balance wheel here matches the color of the steel case as opposed to the rose gold colored model in the 16202. To further aid in slimness, the tourbillon uses a flat hairspring. Also, instead of the third wheel driving the cage’s pinion, here to save height, the cage is powered by the side, which Audemars Piguet calls its “peripheral drive.” What is even more amazing is that the RD#3 flying tourbillon caliber also appears in a 37mm mid-sized Royal Oak model, released in September.

The RD#3 would not have been possible without the launch of the Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin, introduced in celebration of the Royal Oak’s 40th anniversary and which became as iconic as the original 5402. Indeed, one could imagine the watch being conceptualized at the time of the original, so perfectly has the tourbillon been integrated into the Royal Oak’s formed art design. This has everything to do with the sensitivity in terms of the placement of the tourbillon’s massive aperture that gives you a front row seat to this stunning mechanism’s kinetic performance art. The aperture, unlike that of other tourbillons, is significantly larger than the diameter of the tourbillon cage to create a sense of lightness and transparency around this device. Notice how tantalizingly close this opening comes to the cannon pinion where the Royal Oak’s famous baton shaped hands are mounted. As a sort of optical illusion, the tourbillon bridge covers the rim of the third wheel which drives the pinion of the cage, which leaves you scratching your head wondering how it receives power. At the same time, there is a wonderful restraint to the design, an almost Zen-like demeanor that is belied by the watch’s immense technical firepower. Rahman elaborates, “The tourbillon version of the Royal Oak to me epitomizes complicated elegance by only revealing what is needed to show you what’s going on inside it.” But if you look closely, you’ll see it is rife with well thought out details. The tourbillon bridge, which features slotted screws as a clin d’œil to the famous visible bezel screws, retains the tourbillon cage which rotates once on its own axis every minute, averaging the errors caused by gravity on the oscillator, hairspring and escapement.

The Royal Oak Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Extra-Thin RD#3 ref. 26670

It is powered by the remarkable cal. 2968 built specifically for this model, allowing the case to maintain the same dimensions as the ref. 15202 and 16202

To reduce the overall height of the tourbillon, the cage is driven by a wheel on its periphery rather than the conventional pinion beneath the cage

In 2019, Audemars Piguet released one of the most stunning executions of the Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin in the form of reference 26522CE, a ravishing all-black ceramic version. This was only the third all-black ceramic Royal Oak in Audemars Piguet’s history and it beautifully demonstrated that this model could be a lightning rod for contemporary culture. Accordingly, the Royal Oak’s signature guilloché pattern was reconfigured into a Tapisserie Evolutive, which radiated outwards from the tourbillon aperture and grew in size as it reached the edge of the dial. The result was an infusion of Pop Art punch that transformed the watch into a singularly stunning design achievement.

Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin in black ceramic ref. 26522CE

Rahman adds, “This limited-edition watch was sort of stealth launched during the last Watches and Wonders Audemars Piguet attended, and it was a timepiece that every collector who attended was desperate to see. Just as the ceramic perpetual calendar had transformed that complication into a chalice for modernity, so too did this tourbillon uplift and evolve the Royal Oak Tourbillon.”

This set the stage for the stunning 41mm Tapisserie Evolutive Tourbillon models that would arrive in 2020 and 2021, including reference 26532IC. One of the most beautiful watches ever created by the Le Brassus based Manufacture, this timepiece combined a titanium case, white gold bezel set with baguette-cut emeralds with an emerald green dial with radiating guilloché pattern. The effect was a visual opera of complexity and bombast that was belied by timeless iconography and ethereal finishing. What is important to understand is that this watch featured both a flying tourbillon, without an upper bridge and with all the weight of the cage supported by its pinion, as well as an automatic winding system, which meant that the Royal Oak now featured both a sublime manual wind tourbillon that measured 8.95mm in thickness cased up and a self-winding model with a case height of 10.7mm. Both models are water resistant to 50 meters. The automatic winding flying tourbillon movement caliber 2950 was initially introduced in the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon in 2019 before it made its way into the Royal Oak in 2020. Its appearance was, in fact, a subtle clue as to what the brand would have in store for us in 2022.

Royal Oak Tourbillon Extra-Thin ref. 26532IC which combines a titanium case and a white gold bezel set with baguette-cut emeralds with an emerald green dial

Front and back view of the caliber 2950 — note that the motion works are located above the central axis of the movement, ensuring that there are no wheels obstructing the view of the tourbillon cage at six o’clock

Writing Time

It’s funny because when you think of the Royal Oak, the chronograph is often the last model that comes to mind. Yet to me, it represents one of the very best gentleman’s time-writers in existence. The Royal Oak Chronograph was launched in 1997 as part of the celebration of the Royal Oak’s 25th anniversary. The stroke of design genius related to the model is as follows: Try to imagine two pushers randomly added to the famous iconography of the Royal Oak. It just doesn’t work, right? The stroke of brilliance here was to mirror the shape of the Royal Oak’s famous bezel and unify the design. Since 1997, the Royal Oak Chronograph has been made in myriad configurations. It initially used a Frédéric Piguet ultra-thin column wheel, vertical clutch movement and was updated with an in-house movement Calibre 4401 in 2021. Chronograph references also are available in 41mm and 38mm case sizes.

The very first Royal Oak Chronograph ref. 25860, released in 1997

The Royal Oak Chronograph ref. 26240, which is equipped with the in-house automatic cal. 4401

High Concept

When I talk about Audemars Piguet having the fearlessness to tap into the zeitgeist and create watches more daring than the rest of the industry, I often use two references as proof positive. The first is the Royal Oak Offshore from 1993 designed by Emmanuel Gueit that looks like a Royal Oak injected with human growth hormone and chained to a weight pile until it utterly transformed into a shimmering symbol of profoundly handsome aggressive menace. The significance of the Offshore is that it was the luxury watch world’s first truly oversized sports watch, and set the stage for the following decade in which every single brand would follow the path it blazed. You might notice its conspicuous absence from this piece and that’s because it will be the subject of its own totemic article to be released later, such is my affection for the watch affectionately known as “The Beast.”

Emmanuel Gueit’s take on an icon, the Royal Oak Offshore (ref. 25721ST) broke the size barrier with its 42mm case in 1993, becoming the first truly oversized luxury sports watch. Presented with a blue Tapisserie dial to echo the original Royal Oak, it was the first of the Offshore line

The other watch that shows Audemars Piguet to be miles ahead of others was created in 2002 and was named the Royal Oak Concept. It looked like a watch that time travelers had gleaned from 100 years in the future and brought back to our time, so wildly futuristic was its appearance. It was designed by Claude Emmenegger and was created to celebrate the Royal Oak’s 30th anniversary. It featured a more sculptural and faceted case made from a lightweight high corrosion resistant cobalt-based alloy named Alacrite. The Concept features a gear indicator located at the bottom right under the crown for winding, setting and neutral positions. It had a linear power reserve display and something that Audemars Piguet called the dynamograph, which showed the level of torque from the mainspring. It also boasted a tourbillon mounted on a “squiggly” springy bridge that acted as a shock absorber.

The 2002 Royal Oak Concept with its unique shock-absorbing tourbillon bridge, a linear power reserve indicator and a dynamograph to indicate the level of torque in the mainspring

Friedman elaborates, “The term Concept is very intentional because this was a watch intended to sit outside the bounds of traditional horology. It introduced an all-new aesthetic designed to push horology into the new millennium. We no longer have a traditional case, movement and dial but the latter two elements have become one. It is the result of traditional watchmaking with a new way of imagining a watch.”

The Concept continued to showcase Audemars Piguet’s most cutting-edge technology. In 2008, we witnessed the birth of the Concept Carbon with a forged carbon fiber case and ceramic bezel. In 2011, we have the release of the Concept Tourbillon GMT. In 2015, Audemars Piguet launched one of the most innovative watches it’s ever created. Austen Chu believes that the only reason the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher is not more sought after is that 99 percent of the people who saw it still don’t understand how it works. The Laptimer is the first chronograph that allows alternative laptiming recording as per Michael Schumacher’s request in the early 2010s. Which means that it has two chronograph hands running together. When you press the button at nine o’clock, one hand stops and the other jumps back to zero and starts recording a new lap. If you press the button again, the hands switch and the new one stops and the previously frozen one jumps back and starts recording a new lap.

The 2015 Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher was the very first chronograph that could measure two alternating consecutive lap timings.

Friedman says, “The Royal Oak Concept is always the watch where we push boundaries the hardest. That same year is, where the famous Supersonnerie first made its appearance and, of course, in a Concept case.” In 2018, the Concept became the home of Audemars Piguet’s first flying tourbillon and, in 2021, it became the home of Audemars Piguet’s first collaboration with Marvel Comics in the form of the Royal Oak Concept “Black Panther” Flying Tourbillon in a fantastic 42mm case.

With its exposed rubber gaskets and rubber-covered chronograph pushers, the Offshore established an unheard-of precedent for experimentation in luxury watches, ultimately growing to become one of the most influential watches in contemporary watchmaking

Two Hearts Beat as One

Perhaps of all the watches created under his able stewardship of AP, it is the Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked that makes François-Henry Bennahmias smile the most. He recalls with a laugh, “The Double Balance Wheel Openworked was a lot like what happened in 1978, when a trio at Audemars Piguet named Rochat, Golay and Berney created the world’s thinnest automatic perpetual calendar. They presented it to the boss at the time, Georges Golay. He put it into production and it became one of the most successful models in watch history. So, similarly, I was in a meeting one day and I noticed a watch on someone’s wrist. I said, ‘Let me see what you’re wearing.’ He smiled nervously and replied, ‘Boss, actually this is something we wanted to discuss with you.’ I asked, ‘Who is we?’ It turned out that there were 10 people at the Manufacture wearing this watch. I looked at it and immediately recognized that they had created a successor to our 39mm automatic openworked watch, now at 41mm with our in-house movement, the 3120. But then I noticed something very interesting, that the watch had two balance wheels, each with its own hairspring mounted in opposing directions. This was to give the watch a higher level of chronometric performance, he explained. I said to him, ‘So you went ahead and created a watch that I didn’t ask for, the marketing team didn’t ask for, the production team didn’t ask for?’ He nodded his head nervously waiting for me to reply. I asked him, ‘Can we make these in series, not just a few pieces a year?’ He nodded. I asked him, ‘Is it reliable?’ He nodded his head. I asked, ‘Does it bring some real performance?’ He nodded his head. I told him, ‘OK, we are going to put this in production.’”

Audemars Piguet’s experimentation with two hairsprings poised in opposite directions to aid in concentric breathing goes all the way back to the Audemars Piguet escapement. It was used in combination with a 6Hz direct impulse escapement – inspired by Robert Robin’s escapement from 1791 – to excellent effect in watches such as the Jules Audemars Chronometer with AP Escapement. Friedman explains, “Those watches were made in small quantities and a large part of the work was focused on regulating the balance wheel because of these two hairsprings. But when our team started working on the Double Balance Wheel, it dawned on them that it would be more straightforward to regulate two independent balance wheels each with their own spirals. They decided to place this innovation inside the openworked version of the caliber 3120, which is an extremely reliable automatic movement. They were immediately impressed with the results and the Double Balance Wheel was born. What’s great was that because of the 3120, we were able to make this watch in both the 41mm size but also in the 37mm size, which opens up a whole new world of mid-sized complications for the Royal Oak. We’ve made the watch in many incredible versions.”

The 2009 Jules Audemars Chronometer offers a rare package of a high frequency of 6Hz and a long power reserve of 90 hours

This is accomplished with the highly efficient, direct-impulse Audemars Piguet escapement as well as double barrels installed in a parallel configuration visible on the caseback

The first Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel was unveiled in 2016. Immediately the watch world sat up and took notice of this incredible watch with a single gear train, single escapement, and with balance wheels positioned co-axially and on either side of the escapement. But more than a brilliant technical achievement, the watch was absolutely stunning to behold. One major part of the aesthetic charm of the watch is its openworked gold-plated balance bridge, an element that has become so iconic that it is the inspiration for both the balance and barrel bridge of the new caliber 7121, found in the reference 16202, as well as the caliber 2968 in the RD#3.

The Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked, launched in 2016, incorporates one of the most mechanically exotic movements in a classic Royal Oak case

Front and back views of the caliber 3132. The benefit of having two balance wheels mounted on the same staff is greater inertia, resulting in greater stability in the face of shocks. At the same time, the hairsprings wind and unwind inversely to each other, cancelling out rate variations

Says Bennahmias, “ I loved that our people had this desire to innovate. It shows that Audemars Piguet has always been the leader in terms of fearless innovation. This is our greatest asset — we are not driven by anyone else in the industry except for ourselves. This was the way it was since the company’s earliest days in 1875; the Royal Oak launched in 1972 is its most visible proof. This was the way it was in 1978 that resulted in the creation of the perpetual calendar, the way it was in 1993 that resulted in the creation of the Offshore, and the way it is today.”

Perpetually Yours

When I wrote my story on Audemars Piguet’s perpetual calendars, I described the brand that represents high watchmaking’s “holy trinity” in the following way: Patek Philippe is the golden child, the Fulbright scholar, Vacheron Constantin is the fiercely intellectual virtuoso, but Audemars Piguet is the wild child, the fearless one, the rebel but the most magnetic of the three. I’ll put it another way: Think about a guy wearing any perpetual calendar from Patek or Vacheron. You would think they are guided by inexorably good taste, correct? But now think of the guy wearing a Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. He is hands down the coolest guy in the room. Right? Such is the dynamic appeal of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar that it makes even the most intellectual complications a symbol for unyielding desirability and swagger.

But first, let’s go back to 1984, when the meeting of the world’s thinnest automatic perpetual calendar and the world’s first integrated bracelet sports chic watch seemed as predestined as that of Romeo and Juliet. The resulting watch was a masterpiece of design and ergonomics. At 39mm in diameter, it was effortless to wear. Moreover, the idea of a complication in a watch you could wear lounging by the swimming pool was audacity to the max. Style, swagger, élan — call it what you want but the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar had it from the very beginning. In 2015, three years into his leadership at Audemars Piguet, it was clear that François-Henry Bennahmias wanted to revitalize this model with the introduction of a 41mm version, now replete with a week of the year indicator. What is impressive is that despite the added complication, the watch was just a mere 0.2mm thicker, bringing its height to just 9.5mm. But he had a much bigger plan in mind for this model. Two years later, he would launch reference 26579CE, the world’s first Royal Oak in full ceramic, replete with the perpetual calendar, and he would, as they say in populist vernacular, “break the Internet.” When it was launched, images of this watch bombarded the Internet and social media, and created such a frenzied cult of desire that the watch was soon trading at crazy multiples on the secondary market. It was the modern watch market’s first unicorn and set the stage for the massive ascending prices of other key AP models, as well as watches from a few other brands. Indeed, today this model still trades at around four times its retail price while the openworked and white ceramic versions trade for even more. But then not content to create the ultimate grail watch, Audemars Piguet dropped the production version of the RD#2, the world’s thinnest automatic perpetual calendar at the time, on us in 2018 and blew everyone’s minds.

The first Royal Oak perpetual calendar ref. 5554 (later renamed ref. 25554) launched in 1984

Standing at just 6.3mm tall, the 2019 Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin ref. 26586IP was the slimmest automatic perpetual calendar wristwatch on the market at the time of its launch

The ultra-thin calibre is achieved by by embedding the calendar complication on the main plate

The self-winding cal. 5133 was based on the cal. 2120, thus incorporating a “hanging” barrel visible on the caseback

The 2017 Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar ref. 26579 in black ceramic

While the prototype version of the RD#2 was made in platinum, the production version, released in 2019, was crafted out of lightweight titanium with a platinum bezel, making it a pleasure to wear. This watch, known with great understatement as the Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin, was a mere 6.3mm in thickness and ignited a second wave in the cult of collectibility for Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendars, so that even the early watches reaching all the way back to 1984 and throughout the past decades experienced a stratospheric rise in prices. I started to research my story on Audemars Piguet’s perpetual calendars because of my interest in purchasing one. In the context of 2018, the early watches were hovering around 40 to 50 thousand US dollars. By the time I published my story, the prices had blasted through the roof, and now those same watches are over 200 thousand US dollars. My friend and loyal Audemars Piguet supporter Austen Chu remarked when he realized I hadn’t bought my perpetual calendar, “Bro, you are like a hedge fund guy that hypes a stock but forgets to buy it himself.” It took a while to admit it, but alas yes, such was my stupidity.

The 2015 ref. 26574 with a central week-of-the-year indicator

Keeper of the Flame

The relevance of Campbell’s heroic monomyth does not end with Audemars Piguet’s watches. Over the last quarter century, the individual that has ably drove the commercial success of the legendary Royal Oak is a man whose life story also fits the heroic monomyth. That is Audemars Piguet’s CEO François-Henry Bennahmias. A professional golfer who was ranked 25th in France, he joined AP in 1994 at the age of 30 and three years later, was the brand’s head of operations in Singapore. By 1999, he was Audemars Piguet’s CEO in North America, where he was the driving force behind the Royal Oak’s massive surge in popularity and relevance. He converted the greatest popular culture luminaries like Jay-Z and LeBron James into fiercely loyal customers, and was responsible for the Royal Oak’s appearance in cult television programs like Entourage. In 2012, on the 40th anniversary of the Royal Oak, he took up the mantle as the global leader of the brand. Within six years he grew revenue for Audemars Piguet from 550 million Swiss francs to over a billion Swiss francs per annum. In 2021, the brand’s performance was incendiary, reaching 1.58 billion Swiss francs.

Reinforcing the evergreen appeal of the Royal Oak are some of the most beloved models executed with green dials — a platinum Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin, a Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph in yellow gold, as well as a trio of Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon models launched in 2021

His performance during the outbreak of the global COVID pandemic was nothing less than heroic. He stated with the board of directors that they would dig into the brand’s reserves and ensure that all 2,000 employees would be kept on payroll despite the factories having to close temporarily. In the end, he was able to keep revenue for the year 2020 at 1.13 billion Swiss francs despite the various closures, which was in alignment with Audemars Piguet’s pre-pandemic performance of 1.18 billion Swiss francs in 2019. But most of all, Bennahmias championed the Royal Oak in all its most recent incarnations — from the new 16202, to the mid-sized 15450, to the beautiful Double Balance Wheel, to the Perpetual Calendar model, to the 41mm Tourbillons in both manual wind and automatic form — into objects of insane cult devotion. So desirable are the watches that secondary prices for steel 16202s, the latest Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin, reached 10 times their original retail value within minutes of being launched. Bennahmias’ greatest achievement was the restoration of the Royal Oak to its position as the most iconic watch of the late 20th century and beyond and has served as its most fundamental guardian and protector over the last decade.

Looking back at the half century of the Royal Oak’s history it has shapeshifted and transformed, evolved and been the source of bold revolutionary strides while somehow never losing its core value as the most significant act of shaped art to grace the history of watchmaking. When he first sketched out those initial brushstrokes of a design that would become the most significant timepiece in human history, Gérald Genta could not have imagined how the Royal Oak could be extrapolated into so many distinct and heroic guises. He could not have known brilliant designers such as Jacqueline Dimier, Emmanuel Gueit, Claude Emmenegger and Octavio Garcia would build on the foundation that he laid to create a tower edifice of horological magnificence that has compelled the Royal Oak to ascend into the realm of immortality. He would not know that extraordinary leaders from Georges Golay, Georges-Henri Meylan, Stephen Urquhart and François-Henry Bennhamias would each play a vital role in increasing the cultural relevance of the Royal Oak so that it is permanently engrained in the world’s collective consciousness. The Royal Oak when it was launched in 1972, was the hero the world needed. It came to us in uncertain times, filled with strife and challenges and brought light and leadership so much so that by the end of that decade almost every major haute de gamme watch brand had followed in its path. For 50 years it came back to us again and again clad in enthralling new guises often at the cutting edge of the cultural zeitgeist. Over that half century the Royal Oak has uplifted an entire industry and won our hearts with its sheer unremitting courage and originality.

Happy anniversary, Royal Oak. Thank you for being the hero for us when we needed you most.

The post The Hero with a Thousand Faces: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak appeared first on Revolution Watch.

The History of the Patek Philippe Nautilus

Cheryl Chia — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 20:00:10 +0000

The year was 1976. NASA successfully landed a robotic probe on Mars known as the Viking 1 which for the first time offered mankind a glimpse of what lies beneath the pink Martian sky. The Concorde, the world’s fastest commercial plane, took its maiden flight while Steve Jobs founded a company called Apple. In the watch world, quartz ruled the roost. Swimming against the tide was the great English watchmaker George Daniels who unveiled the co-axial escapement, acclaimed as nothing short of a technical revolution. But a conceptual revolution was underway that would change the face of the luxury watch industry forever, and that was the birth of the Patek Philippe Nautilus.

An old ad for Patek Philippe Nautilus ref. 3700

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, launched four years prior, might have remained just that — an experimental niche on a side road leading nowhere — were it not for the arrival of another luxury watch, brazenly made out of stainless steel but commanded the price of a gold watch. With the epiphany of quartz technology, the meaning of a mechanical watch as a tool almost vanished. The market was in need of a design intervention that would tilt the scales and offer a fresh perspective on the concept of a luxury watch. Together they subverted the prevalent school of thought that luxury watches were made of precious metal and could easily slide under a cuff with their conservative forms and discreet dimensions.

Unbending and unapologetically industrial, the Nautilus committed so thoroughly to the new vision of modern luxury in its size, shape, material, robustness and most of all, price tag that it worked. In fact, Patek Philippe advertisements of the era boasted that one of the most expensive watches in the world was made of steel. By its 40th birthday in 2016, demand for the Nautilus had already grown strong. From there, temperatures rose steadily, inspiring innumerable derivatives and pastiches in the market while waitlist stretched to nearly a decade. Finally, the brand announced the retirement of the steel Ref. 5711 last year, which sent prices spiralling into madness on the secondary market.

Design of Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711

Since the end-of-series green or Tiffany blue dial, many began envisioning a worthy successor to the iconoclastic icon. In the lead-up to that, we take a look at the entire lineage of what has become the most coveted wristwatch on the planet.

The First of its Kind: Ref. 3700 “Jumbo” (1976-1990)

The Nautilus of 1976 was the ref. 3700/1A with hours, minutes and a date at three o’clock, fondly known as the “Jumbo” due to its generous case diameter of 40mm (42mm ear to ear). Its inspired design, as with the Royal Oak, was the brainchild of the late Gérald Genta, who famously sketched its blueprint in five minutes while dining metres away from a table of Patek Philippe executives. Whereas the eight-sided octagonal bezel of the Royal Oak was modelled after deep-sea dive helmets, the rounded octagonal shape of the Nautilus drew inspiration from the hermetically sealed portholes on transatlantic ocean liners.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 3700/1A, 1976

Beyond their steel cases, both watches went against the grain of how luxury watches were discreet but shiny objects that sparkled from under a shirt cuff. Instead, their large cases with emphatic bezels were predominantly matte – brushed on their flat surfaces with just a hint of shine by way of polished bevels.

In contrast to its famous contemporary, the Ref. 3700/1A had a two-part case construction so as to reduce the risk of water entry, accomplishing a depth rating of 120m. It comprised of a case middle/back and a bezel with two lateral protrusions or “ears”. Both parts are secured by four lateral screws, concealed at the “ears” at three and nine o’clock, with a bezel gasket in between.

Despite its imposing size, the Jumbo had an elegant height of just 7.5mm thanks to the ultra-thin calibre 28-255C inside, which is the Jaeger-LeCoultre cal. 920 that also powered the Royal Oak. Because of its monobloc case, the movement had a split stem so that it could be inserted and removed through the dial side. It was equipped with a Gyromax balance and offered a power reserve of 40 hours.

The beautiful Patek calibre 28-255 was found in the original 3700/1A from 1976. (Image: A Collected Man)

Most crucially, its bracelet, with its H-links and rounded, rectangular center links, was seamlessly integrated into the case, which preserved the integrity of the design as a whole, setting it apart from watches that came before which had traditional lugs that could accommodate aftermarket bracelets and straps. The production of the model was demarcated into two main series: the ref. 3700/1 (1976-1982), featuring a slightly wider and straight 16mm bracelet and the ref. 3700/11 (1982-1990) with a narrower and tapered 14mm bracelet.

The blue dial was embossed with a distinctive ribbed texture, achieved by carving each individual horizontal groove by hand. Across the reference, the dials themselves also demonstrated an evolution with earlier examples featuring small painted baton minute track while later examples had a dotted outer minute track with “sigma SWISS sigma” printed at the bottom of the dial.

The ref. 3700 was originally produced only in steel, followed by a bimetal combination of steel and gold and subsequently yellow gold. There are approximately only 11 known white gold examples and only two unique executions in platinum.

The first platinum example with diamond markers sold for CHF 783,750 at Christies in 2013 while the second with a pave diamond-set dial and bezel sold for CHF845,000 in 2015. A steel example with a prototype case and a one-off white-dial made by Stern Frères on special request by the owner has also surfaced. Affectionately referred to as the “Albino”, the watch, which also included a spare black dial as part of the package, sold for CHF 250,000 at Sotheby’s in 2015. Limited quantities of double-signed watches were also produced for its retailers including Tiffany & Co., Beyer, Gübelin and the elusive Asprey as well as for the Sultan of Oman, featuring the distinctive Omani national emblem of a khanjar.

The last transacted prices for a classic steel ref. 3700/1 with a blue ribbed dial was CHF 176,400 at Phillips Geneva sale in May 2022 and EUR 113,400, approximately CHF 108,100, at Sotheby’s in September 2022.

The Midsize Nautilus: Ref. 3800 (1981-2006)

Due to the Jumbo’s rather slow initial sales, Patek Philippe introduced the midsize ref. 3800 in 1981 in a bid to broaden its appeal. The ref. 3800 saw a reduction in case diameter to a more modest 37.5mm while preserving the design and construction of the ref. 3700. Crucially, the ref. 3800 was powered by an in-house movement that was built to modern standards with a center seconds, bringing more utility to the Nautilus.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 3800/1A, 1981

It was initially powered by the manufacture caliber 335 SC (Seconde Centrale) which ran at 4Hz with 29 jewels. The movement, however, did not bear the Geneva Seal nor was it equipped with the Gyromax balance. Later on, it was upgraded with a quick-set date and in 1992, the caliber 335 SC was replaced altogether by the caliber 330/ 134 SC, which was certified with the Poinçon de Genève and saw the introduction of a two-spoke, eight-weight Gyromax balance. In 1997, the caliber 330/ 134 SC was supplanted by the 330/194 SC, which had a lower frequency of 3Hz to boost power reserve up to 48 hours, while all other specifications stayed the same.

The caliber 330 SC also established an architecture that would persist through to the modern-day 324 SC and subsequent 26-330 SC. To achieve a central seconds while retaining a slim height, the third wheel in the movement drives a pinion in the middle for the central seconds with both the second and fourth wheels located off-centred to free up space in the middle to accommodate the automatic winding mechanism. Meanwhile, the third wheel also drives the minute wheel in the motion works on the dial side.

The ref. 3800 was produced in a greater variety of configurations across all metals, which included rose gold, as an attempt to bring the Nautilus to a wider audience. While only a prototype ref. 3700 is known to have a white dial, the white striated dial became a permanent part of the ref. 3800 offering in steel, along with classic dark blue with baton indexes, smooth charcoal grey dial with Arabic numerals as well as black with Roman numerals.

The mid-sized Nautilus 3800/1A launched in 1981 with a new in-house movement, marking the end of the calibre 28-255. (Image: A Collected Man)

Special dial varieties have since surfaced including a platinum example with an anthracite grey dial featuring printed radial indexes, which sold for CHF212,500 at Phillips in 2018. There are also fully bejewelled examples such as the ref. 3800/108 in yellow gold, owned by Jiro Yanagawa, the notorious Yakuza boss that sold for HKD750,000 at Antiquorum in 2015 and more recently in 2020, a white gold version sold for CHF 287,500 at Phillips. Double-signed watches include those made for Tiffany & Co, Beyer, Gübelin and Asprey, of which there are only two publicly known examples, as well as those produced for the Sultan of Oman.

A Tiffany-signed example with a black dial and roman numerals sold for USD 113,400 at Sotheby’s in December 2021 while the standard-production steel model with a classic blue ribbed dial last transacted at HKD 504,000, approximately CHF 63,300, at Sotheby’s on 5th October 2022.

The Forerunner of the Aquanaut: Ref. 5060/SJ (1996-1997)

The introduction of a smooth black dial with Roman numerals on the bi-metal ref.3800/1JA in 1996 simultaneously saw the birth of the ref. 5060/SJ, which marked Patek’s first attempt at reinterpreting the design of the Nautilus. It preceded the Aquanaut ref. 5060A by a year and can be considered a transitional model. It featured a redesigned porthole case and traditional lugs that would come to define the Aquanaut but retained a case of precious metal, and like the ref.3800/1JA, featured Roman numerals on a matte black dial. It saw a further reduction in diameter to 35mm and was fitted with neither a bracelet nor a rubber strap but instead, a leather strap, which is interesting as it suggests a momentary attempt to hew to the prevalent norms that the Nautilus broke away from. It was equipped with the same caliber 330 S C and was executed only in yellow gold with a black as well as a white dial before the birth of the Aquanaut, with its 36mm porthole steel case, checkerboard dial and rubber strap.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 3800/1JA, 1996

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5060/SJ, 1996

The Nautilus Power Reserve: Ref. 3710 (1998-2006)

As the midsize ref. 3800 entered its seventeenth year of production, Patek Philippe introduced the stainless-steel ref. 3710 in 1998, the first Nautilus to feature an additional complication in addition to the date. The watch marked a return to the original Jumbo case size of 42mm and incorporated a power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock. The movement is the 330 S C IZR, which stands for Indication de Zone de Remontage. The indicator comprises of a metallic graduated scale that rotates as the watch is being wound and a pointer that rotates as power is discharged. The steel case was combined with a matte black dial that saw the continuation of applied Roman numerals and a railroad minute track.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 3710/1A, 1998

The watch was executed in a single configuration and remained in production for the next eight years. A unique execution of the watch, dubbed the “Lucky Thirteen”, where the roman numeral VIII is replaced by XIII at the request of a superstitious owner, appeared in 2015, selling for CHF254,600 at Phillips auction. The standard production model last sold for USD 94,500 at Sotheby’s in June 2022.

The Transitional Models: Ref. 3711/1G (2004) and Ref. 3712/1A (2005)

Six years after the launch of the Nautilus with a power reserve display, it was time to bring back a time-and-date Jumbo, which had been absent in the catalogue for 14 years by then. This came in the form of the ref. 3711 of 2004. But although it was faithful to the original at 42mm (ear to ear), it was only produced in white gold with a black ribbed dial. Additionally, this reference saw a transition from a two-part to a three-part case with the addition of a sapphire case back. It was powered by the cal. 315 SC, which is virtually identical to the cal. 330 that powered the midsize Nautilus but with four parts less as the date disc is located at the edge of the movement. The ref. 3711 was produced for only two years, paving the way for the modern legend – the ref. 5711.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 3711/1G, 2004

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711/1P, 2016

In 2005, Patek also introduced the ref. 3712/1A with a 42mm (ear to ear) case diameter. It had a blue gradient dial with an unusual asymmetric layout, featuring a small seconds sub-dial between four and five o’clock, a moon phase display with an analogue date and a power reserve indicator at 10 o’clock. Most notably, the ref. 3712 was also the first Nautilus to use the beautifully constructed micro-rotor base cal. 240.

Measuring just 2.53mm high, the cal. 240 was conceived in the thick of the Quartz Crisis with the intention of demonstrating an elegance in engineering that could eclipse the precision of quartz. To maintain its height, the rotor had to be made from solid 22k gold to ensure sufficient inertia. As with a majority of Patek Philippe movements, the rotor winds unidirectionally to eliminate the need for reverser gears, thus reducing friction. Notably, the ref. 3712 had an integrated sapphire case back, which marked a return of the monobloc case while suitably allowing the cal. 240 to be admired.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 3712/1A, 2005

There are two variants of the 3712/1A, colloquially segmented as “first series” and “second series” examples. The first series featured three dots towards the end of the power reserve indicator while the later examples had four dots. This reference was discontinued approximately nine months after its release, making it an extremely rare reference.

The ref. 3711G, from circa 2003, last sold for 1,827,000 HKD, approximately CHF 218,200, at Sotheby’s in October, 2021 while a double-sealed ref. 3712A last fetched a sum of CHF 315,000 at Phillips Geneva auction in May 2022.

The Modern Icon: Ref. 5711 (2006-2021)

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Nautilus in 2006, Patek Philippe brought back the steel “Jumbo”, unveiling what has now become the hottest watch on the planet – the ref. 5711. It incorporated subtle refinements that set it apart from the original ref. 3700 but still retained the path-breaking codes that gave the Nautilus its notoriety. It was slightly wider than its predecessor, measuring 42.5mm from ear to ear.

Notably, the 5711 reverted to a three-part case construction with a classic six-notch sapphire screw back, as employed in the earlier ref. 3711. While the ref. 3712 demonstrated the possibility of an integrated sapphire case back, a three-part case ultimately offers greater convenience during servicing as the movement can be removed from the back without the need for a split stem. For this reason and due to the self-winding caliber 315 SC and subsequent 324 S C within being inherently thicker than the Jaeger-LeCoultre 920, the case measures 8.3mm thick versus the ref. 3700’s height of 7.6mm due to.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711/1J, 2007

The hinge-inspired ears themselves were slightly softened at the edges, echoing the curvature of the bezel whereas the models up until then had straight edges. The blue dial retained its recognizable striping but featured a sunburst gradation in hue that began with dark blue at the centre of the dial and faded to black at the periphery.

The rounded baton hands were slightly broader, giving it a more assertive character while the shape of the hour indices followed the contour of the bezel instead of being uniform as they were in earlier models. The bracelet, with its alternating satin and mirror finishes, retained its interlocked H-links, but with a more streamlined profile and incorporated a double folding clasp.

The movement used in the ref. 5711 from its inception until its discontinuation in 2021 presents an evolution, with the earliest examples, colloquially defined as the first series, being equipped with the cal. 315 S C. For the second series from 2007 up until 2019, the cal. 315 S C was replaced with the new cal. 324 SC, which used a new generation four-spoke, four-weight Gyromax balance, a Spiromax hairspring and operates at a higher frequency of 4Hz for better rate stability. Other improvements include a new wheel tooth profile for greater transmission efficiency, a bipartite minute train bridge, asymmetric date train, a reinforced winding wheel, and lower-friction wheel arbor pivots.

The final evolution of the movement is the 26-330 SC in 2019 which saw the introduction of a hacking seconds function and notably, a nickel-phosphorous third wheel with a reactive tooth profile made using LIGA (the German acronym for Lithographie, Galvanoformung, Abformung), an additive micro-electro-mechanical technique that allows for extremely precise fabrication of metal parts. As with all central seconds calibers after the Jaeger-LeCoultre 920 in the Nautilus lineage, it is the third wheel that drives the pinion for the center seconds. The new sprung teeth allow for fuller penetration of teeth as they mesh, eliminating backlash or play.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711/1A-018, 2021

The 5711 has been produced in numerous metals including stainless steel, in all three colours of gold but with a leather strap, as well as platinum, which was only available on request for its top clients but was later produced in a limited edition to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Nautilus in 2016. Notably, in contrast to the ref. 3700, the model was executed with more experimental dial colours including vivid blue, white, brown, grey, green, and finally, Tiffany blue as the reference took its victory lap.

Upon its discontinuation, prices skyrocketed on the secondary market. A double-sealed example with a green dial sold for EUR 416,000 at Antiquorum in July 2021, setting a record for the reference only to be broken within the same year when the final execution of the reference signed by its American retailer along with a matching Tiffany blue dial fetched a whopping US$6.504 million at Phillips New York auction in December 2021.

The Nautilus Moon Phase: Ref. 5712 (2006-present)

Along with launch of the ref. 5711 in 2006, Patek Philippe also unveiled the Ref. 5712. Displaying a date, power reserve and moon phases, the 5712 was the successor of the short-lived ref. 3712. It shares the same subtle improvements as the ref. 5711 from its three-part case to its slightly wider case diameter of 42.5 (ear to ear) to the gently curved ears and its blue gradient dial.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5712/1A, 2006

It is powered by the same cal. 240 PS IRM C LU, which now bears the Patek Philippe seal. The emblematic movement is immediately recognizable from the dial due to the unusual position of the small seconds sub-dial at four o’clock. To make room for the micro-rotor, it features a crescent-shaped gear train arrangement, with the fourth wheel, onto which the seconds hand is mounted, is located at eight o’clock when viewed from the case back while the pinion of the second wheel drives the motion works on the dial side.

The ref. 5712 was introduced in steel as well as in pink gold with a brown gradient dial that year. Notably, the pink gold model was the first Nautilus to be fitted with an integrated leather strap. It was subsequently produced in white gold as well as a bi-colour combination of white and rose gold. There is also a one-off ref. 5712 in titanium produced for the Only Watch charity auction In 2007, raising EUR 525,000. In march this year, a bimetal Tiffany-signed 5712GR sold for USD 201,600 at Christie’s.

The Nautilus Chronograph: Ref. 5980 (2006-present)

The year 2006 also saw the introduction of the ref. 5980A, which was the first Nautilus chronograph as well as Patek’s first-ever automatic chronograph. It has a case diameter of 40.2mm when measured from 10 to four o’clock and a height of 12.6mm. While it uses a three-part case like the ref. 5711, the case back features lateral protrusions that are secured to the case middle along with the bezel by four lateral screws at the ears.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5980/1A, 2006

While it is thicker than most Nautilus references, it is comparatively slimmer than the majority of automatic, vertical-clutch chronographs on the market. The flyback chronograph cal. 28-520 C within has a thickness of just 6.63mm high, which is attributable to its straightforward chronograph construction as it omits a running seconds counter. Instead, it features a single elapsed minute counter with a co-axial 12-hour scale at six o’clock.

Most notably, such a design allows the fourth wheel to be integrated in the vertical clutch assembly in the middle, and because there is no running seconds counter, no additional gears are needed to relocate the seconds to a sub-dial. This gear train configuration is the most ideal as it realises the true merits of a vertical coupling system, allowing the chronograph to function at its best with negligible effect on amplitude as the clutch and chronograph seconds wheel are within the power flow of the gear train, making it particularly suited for such a dial design. It enables the use of the chronograph seconds as an active running seconds with no amplitude loss while minimizing wear as both the fourth wheel and chronograph seconds wheel rotate in tandem. And like the 324 S C, the third wheel of the movement drives the motion works directly on the dial side. The caliber 28-520 C has a frequency of 3Hz and a power reserve of 45 and 55 hours.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5980/1AR, 2013

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5980R, 2010

Since the steel model of 2006, the Nautilus chronograph was produced in rose gold in 2010, a bimetal combination of rose gold and steel in 2013 and subsequently as a limited edition in white gold in a 44mm case – christened the ref. 5976G – to mark the 40th anniversary of the Nautilus in 2016. It was produced with various dial colours including blue, white and black.

A ref. 5980A, from circa 2012, with a white dial last sold for HKD 945,000, approximately CHF 121,138, at Sotheby’s in October 2022.

The Midsize Underdog: Ref. 5800 (2006-2009)

As the ref. 5711, the chronograph ref. 5980, and the moon phase ref. 5712 took the lion’s share of attention in 2006, the midsize ref. 5800, launched as a successor to the hugely popular ref. 3800 that same year, was often overlooked. Measuring slightly larger than its predecessor at 38.5mm wide from 10 to four, it bore all the same upgrades in terms of the design, including gently rounded case ears and a blue gradient dial. However, the watch kept the cal. 330 SC with the Poinçon de Genève, most likely to finish off the stock, and also featured a monobloc case with an integrated sapphire crystal case back, first seen in the ref. 3712. As the market was experiencing a trend towards larger case sizes, the model failed to catch on, leading to its eventual discontinuation in 2009.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5800/1A, 2006

However, due to its short production run and the recent backswing towards more classical proportions, it hasn’t been spared in the mania for the Nautilus today. An example from 2009 sold for HK$1,071,000 (approximately CHF 137,290) at Phillips’ Hong Kong auction in July 2022.

The Nautilus Annual Calendar: Ref. 5726 (2010-present)

In 2010, Patek Philippe unveiled the ref. 5726, a Nautilus that houses one of the brand’s most emblematic complications – the annual calendar. When it was first unveiled in 1996 in the ref. 5035, Patek’s annual calendar mechanism was a tremendous feat in its day not only for the novelty of the complication but also its construction as it marked a departure from the complex, three-dimensional architecture of a traditional perpetual calendar, characterized by a grand lever and rockers. Instead, it relied on gears and pinion, making it highly robust and reliable.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5726A, 2010

The ref. 5726 features slightly larger case profile of 40.5mm when measured from 10 to four and 11.3mm high. Like the chronograph ref. 5980, its case back is secured to the case middle along with the bezel by lateral screws at the ears. Inside is the self-winding caliber 324 S QA LU 24H/303.

This reference was only ever offered in steel, initially with a dark grey gradient dial and an integrated leather strap and subsequently with an integrated steel bracelet in 2012. A white-dial model was also introduced in 2012 and eventually a classic blue gradient dial in 2019.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5726A, 2012

The last transacted price of the reference with blue gradient dial and an integrated bracelet was 945,000 HKD, approximately CHF 118,700, at Sotheby’s on 5th October, 2022.

The Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph: Ref. 5990 (2014-present)

In 2014, Patek Philippe unveiled the Travel Time Chronograph ref. 5990A that was to replace the chronograph 5980A. It combined two highly practical complications – a flyback chronograph and dual time function, along with an analogue date, synchronized to local time. But beyond its utility, the ref. 5990 represents one of the most outstanding references in the Nautilus line up where the aesthetics and mechanics of the complications were masterfully melded into Genta’s iconic design.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5990/1A, 2014

By this time, both complications already existed in other Patek Philippe watches – the dual time mechanism, with its bidirectional adjustment feature and day-and-night indicators, was first seen in its current iteration in the Aquanaut Travel Time Ref. 5164A in 2011 while the vertical-clutch flyback chronograph made its debut in the ref. 5980. But the integration of the dual time function with an analogue date and chronograph in a Nautilus meant that its three-part case had to be redesigned. Impressively, the pushers for these mechanisms were integrated without compromising the integrity of the iconic porthole-inspired case, making the ref. 5990 arguably the most interesting among complicated Nautiluses.

The chronograph pushers at two and four on the case were shifted closer to the crown to make way for a date corrector at one o’clock on the case band while the pushers for the time zone correctors were cleverly disguised as its nine o’clock “ear”.

Designed by Louis Cottier and patented by Patek Philippe in 1959, the dual time function comprises of two central hour hands – a skeletonized hand for home time and solid hand to indicate local time. By using the “plus” and “minus” pushers on the case at nine o’clock, local time can be conveniently adjusted not just forwards, but also backwards by one-hour increments without removing the watch off the wrist. In the ref. 5990, as with the Aquanaut ref. 5164, this ingenuously practical mechanism was accompanied by a day and night indicator in the form of two tiny apertures topped by the inscriptions “local” and “home” on the dial.

The date display, which was originally an aperture date at three o’clock in the ref. 5980, was relocated to 12 o’clock as an analogue date, while the 60-minute chronograph counter remained at six o’clock but did away with the hours, resulting in a remarkably balanced dial. Notably, with the addition of a dual time mechanism, the cal. CH 28-520 C FUS gained just 0.3 mm in thickness, in part because the Breguet overcoil hairspring was replaced by a Spiromax hairspring, which oscillates on a single plane yet symmetrically and isochronously.

Measuring 40.5 mm in diameter from 10 to four o’clock, the Ref. 5990 has been executed in only two versions to date – stainless steel with a black gradient dial and rose gold with a blue gradient dial. The ref. 5990A, from circa 2015, last sold for EUR 126,000, approximately CHF 120,100 at Sotheby’s in September this year.

The Nautilus Perpetual Calendar: Ref. 5740 (2018-present)

By 2018, demand for the Nautilus had reached a fever pitch. Along with introducing a price hike on all steel models that year, Patek Philippe also unveiled the ref. 5740G, which added the perpetual calendar – the brand’s most prized complication – to the Nautilus.

Patek Philippe Nautilus Perpetual Calendar 5740/1G, 2018

The perpetual calendar mechanism, as pioneered by Patek in 1925, has a traditional construction, relying on a grand lever and a classic 48-month cam. Notably, it was built atop the exceedingly elegant, ultra-thin cal. 240, which resulted in a case height of just 8.42mm, giving it the distinction of being the thinnest Patek Philippe perpetual calendar watch.

While it uses a three-part case, the case back, like the chronograph ref. 5980 and annual calendar ref. 5726, features lateral protrusions that are secured to the case middle along with the bezel by lateral screws at the ears. It measures 40mm in diameter from 10 to four o’clock and pairs a white gold case with a classic blue dial.

A ref. 5740, from circa 2020, last sold for HKD 2,016,000, approximately CHF 253,200, at Sotheby’s on 5th October, 2022.

The post The History of the Patek Philippe Nautilus appeared first on Revolution Watch.

Reference Archives - Revolution Watch

Glashütte Original: Making waves with the new Senator Chronometer

Glashütte Original: Making waves with the new Senator Chronometer

The Origin of Marine Chronometers

Early Designs and Advancements in Navigation

A Legacy of Precision: German Marine Chronometers

A Contemporary Classic from Glashütte

The 2023 Senator Chronometer: Form and Function All in One

The Caliber 58-08: Certified Precise by the German Calibration Service

Timeless and Original

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer Specs and Price

MORE STORIES ABOUT GLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL

FROM THE SHOP

TECH SPECS

READ THIS NEXT

Why Patek Philippe Remains Still and Forever the King of High Watchmaking

Why Patek Philippe Remains Still and Forever the King of High Watchmaking

Quadruple Complication Limited Edition Tokyo 2023 Ref. 5308P-010

A Brief Look at Split-Second Chronographs

A Quick Refresher on Patek Philippe World Timers

World Time Limited Edition Tokyo 2023 Reference 5330G-010

MORE STORIES ABOUT PATEK PHILIPPE

FEATURED FROM THE SHOP

TECH SPECS

READ THIS NEXT

Breitling: A Perfect Premier

Breitling: A Perfect Premier

The origin of the Breitling Premier

The early years of the Breitling Premier

Willy Breitling, King of The Chronograph

Breitling: The chronograph company

Kodak’s influence on Breitling’s strategy

How to make chronograph watches desirable again?

From Purpose to Style with the sports chronograph

The meaning behind the Breitling Premier name

Heading to Hollywood with Paramount to market the Breitling Premier

Specialist suppliers helped Breitling in building a fantastic chronograph

The Legendary Premier watch

The reference 765 and 777

Breitling’s forgotten heritage

The Breitling Premier returns in 2018

Community Feedback and inspiration

Capturing elegance as the main goal

The Latest Additions

Breitling Premier Tech Specs

EDITOR'S PICKS

FROM THE SHOP

TECH SPECS

READ THIS NEXT

Cartier: A Santos Story

The Man behind the Myth

Monsieurs Cartier and Santos-Dumont

The Style of the Times

Stylish, All the time

A Tale of Two Santos

The Bold and The Bracelet

Less is More

Tech Specs

Cartier Santos-Dumont With Lacquered Case and Bezel

Cartier Santos De Cartier in Yellow Gold

Cartier Santos De Cartier Skeleton

The Hero with a Thousand Faces: The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Everlasting Elegance

Mid-Sized Masterpieces

A Case for Complications

Wonderful Whirlwinds

Writing Time

High Concept

Two Hearts Beat as One

Perpetually Yours

Keeper of the Flame

The History of the Patek Philippe Nautilus

The First of its Kind: Ref. 3700 “Jumbo” (1976-1990)

The Midsize Nautilus: Ref. 3800 (1981-2006)

The Forerunner of the Aquanaut: Ref. 5060/SJ (1996-1997)

The Nautilus Power Reserve: Ref. 3710 (1998-2006)

The Transitional Models: Ref. 3711/1G (2004) and Ref. 3712/1A (2005)

The Modern Icon: Ref. 5711 (2006-2021)

The Nautilus Moon Phase: Ref. 5712 (2006-present)

The Nautilus Chronograph: Ref. 5980 (2006-present)