ThomasM
[PuristS]
14331
The new king of hyper complications in wristwatch form factor...
Patek Philippe Grand Master Chime hyper complication wristwatch - the most complicated wristwatch ever created.
When I saw the mode selector switch in the presentation video, I almost lost it -
FINALLY! After nearly 10 years of dreaming; pleading; fantasizing...a sonnerie en passant!!!
Hence my earlier text only post, from the floor of the party reception area, in what is normally the main entranceway with the
massive sculpture that pays homage to the spiral...
This entrance was covered and turned into an indoor space for the party...
(Event venue picture here)
Ok, Patek fans, some qualifiers first:
This is a prototype - the case is definitely not the production case, and the movement, while functioning, is still in prototype stage. It is not even pre-production...
The environment was crowded and noisy and not ideal for critically evaluating sound quality - tonality; resonance; clarity, purity, volume; signal to noise...
But having said that, I got to listen to two caliber samples - one prototype complete and cased, one in movement holder, without QP plates.
And, I had a known baseline with me for comparison - ceteris paribus, same time, same ears, same environment - I brought my own petite grande sonnerie with me, one I have known intimately for many many years and well known to longtime PuristS as well.
I'll leave the more detailed commentary to our beloved moderator, Oliver aka small-luxury-world, but some quick notes for now:
The gongs are soldered to the block. I couldn't just let this go, as classically, most striking watch specialists believe a solid one piece gong and block to be best for
sound quality and volume. The reply was precise and without hesitation: the soldered gong and block sounds "plus chaud" - warmer...
And indeed, the tonality, purity, sonority, and warmth were there, in classic Patek repeater fashion. Regardless of theory, PuristS do not argue with reality.
Bravo.
The volume cased vs in movement holder was slightly less, but not very much less. This tells me there is great care in design and execution of the case and movement integration. Bravo!
Volume of both were comparable to my Ti cased Grande Sonnerie, which was totally unexpected. Bravo!
There is a date repeater function sur demande - how cool is that? On demand, the watch will strike the tens and units of the current date.
Super kool!
But wait a minute...if the racks for a decimal system are there, could the time repeater be a decimal system as well, versus the classical quarter system?!?
No, there are two separate rack systems and the minute repeater racks adhere to the traditional quarter system, "for tradition and classicism."
The date repeater, minute repeater, and alarm share the same sonnerie mainspring barrel, and
HOLY MOTHER OF MERCY, HAS A GRANDE SONNERIE POWER RESERVE OF 30 HOURS! Folks, believe when I say this, THIS IS HUGE!!!
BRAVO!!!
The regulateur is the well known Patek centrifugal type, very quiet and stable (we can have separate discussions about the pros and cons of the two main regulator types)
There will be 6 production Anniversary Grand Master Chime (ahem...maybe a less hip hop (cough cough) model name is in order for such a classical timeless game changer...so says O.Pl Flava Flav...) produced, for commercial sale, and one for the museum.
BUT...once the seven Anniversary pieces are done, the caliber and basic reference will continue, albeit with different case and dial.
Yay!
This O.P. (Original Purist) is happy...make mine in basic classic case, please, ideally in a more basic petite et grande sonnerie only evolution...
Pretty please?
I'll be dreaming in dings and dongs tonight...
Thank you, Patek Philippe and Mr. Philippe and Thierry Stern!
More posts:
The new king of hyper complications in wristwatch form factor...
Patek Philippe Grand Master Chime hyper complication wristwatch - the most complicated wristwatch ever created. When I saw the mode selector switch in the presentation video, I almost lost it - FINALLY! After nearly 10 years of dreaming; pleading; fantasi...
It seems Patek has again reached a peak
and hence proven its mastery. Thank you Thomas for sharing your thoughts, the sonnerie/MR watches are so rare we are not used to reading much about them. I see you're having a nice time! Cheers, Mark
I know who commissioned ref. 5175!
The Only One supposed to wear This Particular Watch is very famous and (I hope) many of us believe in His existence. Taking into account size, technical complications, design and craftmanship this Watch is a tool watch for everyday use by Santa Claus (Sai...
What are you speaking?
Don't you know that Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi fell in eastern Finnish Lapland? If Santa would like to get a high end watch, he would speak with Kari Voutilainen. I think that even I do not deeply love the design, 5175 is a most remarkable watch. A...
You are right...
the Watch is really quintessential for technical reasons, for engraving craftmanship etc. To be clear, I do state that the Watch is Superb and it will take some time to understand its importance for modern horology. But wrist watch is invented for practic...
Defend?! From what?
I think if Santa were not unique, Sterns had to cast lots to chose the one, whose wish to fulfill on Christmas Night. ;) Best wishes, Dennis
hyper complications
a beauty , quite technical. a gem of a watch. we are in good hands for having & patronizing patek timepieces. cheers geross
Thank you for the detailed information...
Thank you for the detailed information. It's good to know that the gongs are soldered to the block, this is information that would only be noticed in typical PuristS fashion. So interesting that it has a date repeater. I've never heard of a date repeater....
The date repeater complication..
..has already been done before. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble. A.L. Breguet did it with one of his original watches, I believe it was sometime after 1800, to 1820. I distinctly remember one watch, mentioned in the book Art of Breguet, that had a date rep...
The watch is...
...the n. 83 sold in 1805 to the Prince of Wales (future King George IV) Best regards
A minor point...
A huge pet peeve of mine regarding numeral orientation on the dial. Please implore PP to 'flip' the Roman numerals from V to VIII. There is no reason for them not to be oriented radially from the center of the dial. Not that I could ever afford this watch...
