PATEK PHILIPPE

Ref . 5303R-001 Minute Repeater Tourbillon

Among the three watches Patek Philippe unveiled this past July , this Ref . 5303R-001 Minute Repeater Tourbillon is possibly the most distinctive , in part because the watch is the newest , most contemporary design among the debuts . The new watch is a modified version of a design debuted last year as a limited edition of twelve watches during the Patek Philippe ’ s ‘ grand exhibition ’ in Singapore .

Where the initially Ref . 5303 appeared accented in red to commemorate the Singapore flag , this new version offers the same open , dialfree architecture but with a black minutes track and gold seconds hand .

OPEN ARCHITECTURE Here , Patek Philippe again reworks the manualwind R TO 27 PS minute repeater caliber to emphasize its chiming operation . As a result , the repeater is fully visible on the watch ’ s dial side , where Patek Philippe has repositioned the caliber ’ s gong and hammers .

This allows the wearer to both hear and see the repeater mechanism ’ s hammers and gongs as they chime the time without taking the watch off the wrist – a first for any Patek Philippe grand complication .

Patek Philippe has skeletonized the caliber and then carefully hand-finished all its remaining bridges and surfaces . The Geneva brand ’ s finishers have decorated the movement ’ s plate with Genevan circular graining , applied a perlage to the recesses and decorated the hammers with a circular satin finish .

THE TOURBILLON The tourbillon is even more transparent than the minute repeater as it ’ s visible from the front and the back of the watch . From the back , the viewer can eye the back of the tourbillon case , exactly opposite the dial-side seconds subdial at 6 o ’ clock . Patek Philippe finishers have filigreed the tourbillon ’ s steel components until they sparkle – a nice contrast to the rose gold back plate .

26 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | FALL 2020