To celebrate the completion of its new production building in Plan-les-Ouates (Geneva), Patek Philippe this week launches a limited edition 40mm steel-cased Calatrava.
The new watch, to be issued as a limited edition of 1,000, features a blue-grey central dial embossed with a light-reflecting ‘carbon’ pattern surrounded by a white railway track scale hour circle. The wide bezel, rare among Calatrava models, frames pierced baton hands (that might remind you of the 2017 Ref. 6006 Calatrava), applied and luminous Arabic numerals and a date at 3 o’clock.
In addition to the steel, a case material rarely used by Patek Philippe, the Geneva watchmaker also utilizes several other special features on the new watch, including a calfskin strap with white decorative seams and an embossed structure meant to recall fabric, all matching the color and structure of the central dial.
The commemorative Patek Philippe Ref. 6007A-001 Calatrava also comes with a sapphire-crystal caseback, exposing automatic Caliber 324 SC, and marked with a Calatrava cross and the “New Manufacture 2019” inscription. The year noted is when the first work groups moved to the new production building.
Under one roof
Patek Philippe’s newest manufacturing facility, now complete after five years of construction, unites all of the manufacture’s Genevan facilities under one roof. With ten floors, it expands the 1996 building complex and anticipates the manufacture’s growth in the next twenty to thirty years.
Patek Philippe describes the new building as appearing like an ocean liner from the exterior and filled with references to Patek Philippe watches inside. 
The building’s curved hallways are “reminiscent of the gently rounded octagon of the Nautilus case,” while the fire escape ladders offer a silhouette that resembles leaf-shaped hands.
The new Patek Philippe Ref. 6007A-001 Calatrava will be issued as a limited edition of 1,000 watches. Price: $28,351.
Specifications: Patek Philippe Ref. 6007A-001 Calatrava
Movement: Caliber 324 S C. Self-winding. Date in an aperture. Sweep seconds, central rotor in 21-karat gold. Frequency: 28,800 semi-oscillation per hour (4 Hz). Power reserve: 45 hours.
Dial: Gray-blue, dial center embossed with “carbon” pattern, gold applied numerals with luminescent coating. White gold white lacquered baton-style hands with luminescent coating.
Case: 40mm by 9.07mm steel, water-resistant to 30 meters, sapphire crystal case back decorated with the Calatrava cross and the inscription “New Manufacture 2019”.
Strap: Calfskin, embossed with fabric pattern, gray-blue. Prong buckle.