Posted on 11/01/2014 8:23:12 PM PDT by servo1969
To pay tribute to its 175th anniversary, Patek Philippe created a collection of limited-edition commemorative timepieces, and one of them stands out in particular. It is the so far most complicated wristwatch of the eminent family-owned watchmaking company and decidedly one of the world's most elaborate wristwatches. This is due not only to the number of complications involved but also to the horological degrees of complexity, two of which have been added to the annals of watchmaking for the first time. Moreover, the Grandmaster Chime is the first double-face wristwatch presented by Patek Philippe that can be worn with either dial facing up: the one that focuses on the time and the sonnerie, the other dedicated to the full instantaneous perpetual calendar. Changing the face is very simple thanks to the ingenious reversing mechanism in the lugs. It is amazingly easy to operate and firmly secures the case in the selected position. Incidentally, the information for which a watch is most frequently consulted – the current time and the date – is displayed on both dials. The ultimate in user-friendliness and safety is assured with intelligent mechanisms that prevent potentially damaging manipulations and thus reliably protect the highly complex movement with its intricate cosmos of tiny parts.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
In Beijing, that watch costs $75.
The concealed clockwork components were much more beautiful than the finished product to me. All that filigree, it’s too much. But then I’m not the target market for a $2.6 million dollar wristwatch.
That was impressive, but I would only skip the first minute or two.
It becomes quite exquisite as it progresses.
You should see the Patek Philippe showroom in Geneva! The whole store is a safe.
Yep ...all my girlfriends mysteriously got green wrists after I bought em a South Korean Rolex......my bad.
Nor I.
I have a ten-year-old $130 Casio (would have been $80 without the titanium band). Solar powered. Sets itself. Matches WWV exactly, which isn't surprising, since WWVB is where it sets itself every morning.
What's that in complications? In complications per dollar? I know, I don't get the point ...
However, the Casio does require attention when changing timezones. Seiko has a new model that solves all of the above, including the timezone. It sets itself to GPS and thus knows where it is in addition to the exact time, so it can pick the proper timezone. Maybe I'll buy one, next time I experience an unexpected capital gain (but probably not, given all the other goodies out there — example).
you never really own a Patek Philippe. You merely take care of it for the next generation.
My younger brother was living in San Francisco when he and his $5,000 Patek Phillipe parted company at the insistence of someone with a $50 handgun. I have never seen him wear anything more lavish than a Swatch since.
Almost made me chuck the Omega I’m wearing.
Incredible and gorgeous.
20 complications and 1300+ parts.
Amazing.
My Jaeger Le Coultre is puny compared to that and embarrassing. ....
LOL
Not really but, I don’t have 2.5 million for a watch but....if I did...that is epic...
It’s the difference between Ford and Ferrari...
Both take you places ...only one will get you...uhmmm....
Zactly
I have a Calatrava. Never wear it, as I collect Omega’s and love em.
Ferrari does what Ford does, only better, albeit more expensively.
Patek Philippe, on the other hand, cannot match Casio's performance, much less Seiko's. At any price.
Performance being, in the case of cars, zero to sixty, in the case of watches, matching WWV at an arbitrary point in time, the user not having needed to do anything but leave the watch on the window sill overnight.
Patek Philippe is a theatrical production, not an appliance. Putting small parts together by hand under a magnifier is a loser's game. The Japs have forgotten more about horology than the Swiss know.
I wonder how many they plan on making and selling.
A passable recovery from a botched demo. LOL.
Casio is made by hand.
Patek Phillipe is hand made.
Ford is made by hand.
Ferrari is hand made.
My 12 year old Timex and my Luminox keep great time and I never have to wind em.
Every other watch I own is a timepiece, many of very limited production.
I had a guy ask me about the watch I had on today.
I proceeded to gush about it being the 1st with this and that, if this particular model, there were only 2010 if them, etc.
He raises his arm and says “I got one too”.
I laughed and said not even close. His runs on batteries abd is a fune watch.
This is a timepiece, celebrating the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and unless he has another Omega with automatic movement he’s not even close and not then either.
Owning a Ferrari, the Patek and any number of things isn’t about merely what it does, it’s the exclusivity of it, maybe its importance and how it makes you feel when you wear it.
A watch is a watch.
Timepieces are different.
Like owning a Bushnell scope for rifle. Good enough but Luepold MK IV is a wholly different class, as would Honda compared to Ducatti ir Indian Motorcycle.
Ain’t nothing wrong with a casio either....
"This is why we can't have nice things" in full effect.
But with how much technological leverage?
Judging by the price of the one I own, quite a lot. Otherwise, the Japanese watchmakers would have to be working for far less than they are worth. And that's the point. Humans should think. Machines should work. There is no way Casio could have delivered what they delivered if they were working like the people in the video.
Complications are not to be bragged about. They are to be engineered out.
Timepieces are different.
If the cheap watch outperforms the timepiece, then the timepiece is an artifact, not a watch. Like the difference between a copper penny with Victor David Brenner's initials vs without. Totally irrelevant, IOW. Both should be worth $0.01, stepped on by Bernanke and Yellin.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.