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The Patek Philippe Launches Annual Calendar Travel Time, Adds a High-Speed Chronograph

Leading with a newly designed Travel Time watch that now includes an annual calendar, Patek Philippe at Watches and Wonders 2022 debuted twelve new watches, including three models designed with a feminine focus.

The new Patek Philippe new Ref. 5326G-001 Annual Calendar Travel Time.

But first, another debut

Perhaps to give the new Annual Calendar Travel Time its own spotlight, Patek Philippe waited until just after the Geneva show to launch a splashier technical innovation: the new 41mm platinum-cased Patek Philippe Ref. 5470P-001, a 1/10-of-a-second monopusher chronograph.

Patek Philippe Ref. 5470P-001, a 1/10-of-a-second monopusher chronograph.

To engineer its first high-frequency chronograph Patek Philippe started with its existing CH 29- 535 PS caliber from 2009. Watchmakers amped the frequency from 4 Hz to 5 Hz (36,000 vibrations per hour, or ten steps per second) and then equipped the movement with an additional 1/10th of a second chronograph mechanism.

As Patek Philippe explains, the designers provided the caliber CH 29-535 PS 1/10 with two independent and synchronized chronograph mechanisms, each of them driving a different central hand. The hand that performs a complete revolution per minute shows the stopped seconds in the traditional manner. The other hand (in red lacquered Silinvar) performs one revolution per twelve seconds.

We’ll have more details about the new Cal. 5470P in a future post. For details and a video, see the Patek Philippe website.

 

Travel time

The totally new Ref. 5326G-001 Annual Calendar Travel Time arrives in a new 41mm white gold Calatrava case with a terrific hobnailed case-side treatment meant to recall the hobnail bezels that have long characterized Patek Philippe’s traditional Calatrava collection.

The watch will also draw stares to its light-refracting textured charcoal gray dial that darkens to black toward its minute track. Vintage-styled applied numerals and white gold hour and minute hands are coated with an equally retro beige luminescence.

(This same dial, case, hand and marker layout is also found on another 2022 debut, the less complex Cal. 5226G, a three-hand 40mm white gold Calatrava with date–see below.)

The new Cal. 5226G, a three-hand 40mm white gold Calatrava with date, sports the same dial treatment as the new Annual Calendar Travel Time.

Patek Philippe’s watchmakers designed a new self-winding caliber (new 31-260 PS QA LU FUS 24H) for the new Annual Calendar Travel Time in which the Travel Time mechanism controls the Annual Calendar.

A view of Caliber 31-260 PS QA LU FUS 24H from the case back of the new Annual Calendar Travel Time.

The unusual setup, in which the watch’s date display is synchronized with local time, allows forwards and backwards date correction.

And to better retain the dressy Calatrava style, Patek Philippe resisted the need to install two pushers to control the two hour hands (a solid hand for local time and a skeletonized hand for home time). Instead, the wearer can correct the local time via the crown. Calendar indications can be adjusted via small case-side correctors located near their respective functions: day at 10, month at 2, date at 4 and moon phases at 8 o’clock. 

For this debut, Patek Philippe also updated its legendary Annual Calendar, which the brand essentially invented for the wristwatch in 1996.  And, Patek Philippe’s engineers shortened the Annual Calendar’s changeover time. Thanks to a new cam system, the changing dates and move to local time is five times faster (eighteen minutes) than the same actions in earlier annual calendars.

This change is among many that Patek Philippe has cited in eight patent applications for the new caliber. 

Patek Philippe delivers its Ref. 5326G-001 Annual Calendar Travel Time with two interchangeable straps, one beige calfskin with nubuck texture. The second black calfskin strap has embossed textile finish and beige decorative stitching. Price: $76,882. 

Additional highlights among the twelve 2022 Watches and Wonders debuts for Patek Philippe include:

Patek Philippe Ref. 5320G-011.

Cal. 5320G-011 Perpetual Calendar, an eye-catching new version of the contemporary vintage Patek Philippe perpetual calendar in 40mm white gold with a stunning rose-gilt opaline dial. With its three-tiered lugs, this debut recalls a Patek Philippe model from 1945. Price: $94,624.

Patek Philippe Ref. 5172G-010.

Cal. 5172G-010 Chronograph, a new version of the manually wound Manufacture chronograph in 40mm white gold, also features a rose-gilt opaline dial (above). You might recall this model from 2019 with a blue dial. $80,431. 

Patek Philippe also added a trio of olive green-dialed models and one green lacquered watch during Watches and Wonders 2022.

Patek Philippe Ref. 4910/1200A-011

The trio includes Ref. 4910/1200A-011 Twenty-4 manchette quartz watch in steel with a sunburst dial ($15,377 (above), Ref. 7130R-014 Ladies’ World Time watch in rose gold ($57,957) and a Ref. 5205R annual Calendar with moon phases ($55,592).

Ref. 7130R-014 Ladies’ World Time.
Ref. 5205R annual Calendar with moon phases.

For a new platinum Ref. 5270P-014 Chronograph with a perpetual calendar ($211,271), Patek Philippe applies a green lacquered dial with a black gradation (below).

The new platinum Ref. 5270P-014 Chronograph with a perpetual calendar.

 

We’ll have more reporting about the remaining Patek Philippe 2022 debuts in future posts. These debuts include several artisanal updates to the firm’s Worldtimer plus new gem set options for the platinum-cased Ref. 5374/300P Grand Complication with a minute repeater and a perpetual calendar and the Ref. 7121 Ladies’ Moon Phases watch. 

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Watches and Wonders 2022: The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Perpetual Calendar

Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces a perpetual calendar to its Polaris series, adding a classical calendar complication to the refined sporty collection. The debut anchors a wide-ranging set of Watches and Wonders 2022 debuts that reference the brand’s “Stellar Odyssey” theme for the year’s new releases.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Perpetual Calendar, in steel.

Other debuts include a pair of new Atmos models, two impressive grand complications and two glittering additions to the Rendez-Vous collection.

You might recall that in 2018 Jaeger-LeCoultre revived the Polaris name, adding the collection named for the famed Memovox Polaris dive series of 1968.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Perpetual Calendar, in pink gold.

With the new Polaris Perpetual Calendar, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces Caliber 868AA, a new version of its existing perpetual calendar movement (first seen in 2013), here upgraded to create a retrograde display of Southern Hemisphere moon phases. The update also increases the caliber’s power reserve to a full seventy hours. Fewer power lapses makes any calendar watch is all the more practical.

Jaeger-LeCoultre colors the dial on the 42mm steel or pink gold Polaris Perpetual Calendar in a deep gradient-blue hue to suggest the transition from day to night.

Caliber 868AA powers the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Perpetual Calendar.

To reference the origins of calendars within astronomical events, Jaeger-LeCoultre places the moon phases here at 6 o’clock, with a retrograde display for the Southern Hemisphere framing the display for its Northern counterpart. New skeleton hands allow greater visibility of the dial displays –and to maintain Polaris design codes.

All the Polaris codes are here, including a glass-box crystal, a mix of brushed and polished surfaces, and a top crown that rotates the inner bezel. The lower crown is for setting the time and winding the watch while calendar settings are adjusted via a single pusher.

Prices: $29,600 (steel) and $44,300 (pink gold).

 

Specifications : Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris Perpetual Calendar

Case: 42mm x 11.97mm steel or pink gold.

Movement: Automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 868AA. Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, perpetual calendar with moon phases in two hemispheres and red security zone, inner rotating bezel. Power reserve is 70 hours, water resistance to 100 meters.

Dial: Lacquered blue gradient.

Strap: Ref. Q9088480 (steel) interchangeable steel bracelet and rubber strap.

Ref. Q9082480 (pink gold) interchangeable rubber strap and alligator leather strap.

 

Additional Highlights from Jaeger-LeCoultre at Watches and Wonders 2022

Master Hybris Artistica Calibre 945 Galaxia in pink gold (above) and Master Hybris Artistica Calibre 945 Atomium in white gold. Each offered in a limited edition of five pieces. Prices: $535,000 (white gold) and $515,000 (pink gold).

The Master Grande Tradition Calibre 948, with universal flying tourbillon, world-time display with 24-hour indication. A limited edition of twenty. Price: $227,000.

The new Atmos Tellurium with Zodiac calendar (above). A limited edition of ten pieces: Price: $570,000.

The Atmos Infinite, with the ‘almost-perpetual’ Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 570 (above). Price: $15,100.

Two additions to the Rendez-Vous collection call Rendez-Vous Star and Rendez-Vous Dazzling Star (pictured above).  In pink gold or white gold, the 36mm diamond-set watch hosts a unique complication in which a diamond-set ‘shooting star’ moves across the top of the dial at random moments during the day, typically four to six times per hour. The shooting star can also be activated on demand with several turns of the crown. Prices: $75,500 (Dazzling Star only).

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Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts On Exhibit in Geneva and Paris

In Geneva next month Patek Philippe will present to the public nearly sixty new clocks, pocket watches and wristwatches that make up its Rare Handcrafts collection for 2022. The Exhibit will then move to a location in Paris in May.

The full collection, including fifteen dome table clocks, nine miniature dome table clocks, ten pocket watches and twenty-five wristwatches, will first be exhibited at Patek Philippe’s historic headquarters on Rue du Rhone starting April 6 until April 23.

The collection, which Patek Phillip expands annually, includes pieces made using a wide range of artisanal skills. These include grand feu cloisonné enamel, miniature painting on enamel (a genuine Genevan specialty), manual engraving, manual guilloching and paillonné enamel. Even rarely seen skills such as wood micro-marquetry and Longwy enameling, will also be on display.

In addition, visitors can also watch masters of their art demonstrating tradition-steeped techniques.

Among the topics of this year’s pieces are several objects directly related to Geneva.

The “Bol d’Or” Dome table clock in cloisonné and paillonné enamel shows a famous regatta on Lake Geneva.

One is the dome table clock 20118M Bol d’Or in cloisonné and paillonné enamel, created as a reminder of the seven trophies that the manufacture’s honorary president Philippe Stern won at the Lake of Geneva regatta.

Another piece, the pocket watch 995/130G-001 Swan, shows a Genevan bird in wood micro-marquetry.

The Swan Pocket watch with case back in wood marquetry and enameled dial with hand-engraved hands.

The Rare Handcrafts 2022 exhibition at the Patek Philippe Salons on Rue du Rhône 41 is open to the public every day except Sundays from April 6 to 23, 2022, from 11 am to 6 pm. Visitors are requested to preregister online at the patek.com website starting on March 28, 2022.

Front side of the Patek Philippe Swan pocket watch with case back in wood marquetry, showing enameled dial with hand-engraved hands.

Patek Philippe will also present the exhibit in Paris from May 14 to 22 in a gallery on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 85.

 

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The Watches

MB&F Launches M.A.D.1 Red

Collectors frustrated by the very limited nature of last year’s MB&F M.A.D.1 now have a chance to score a new version of the very cool, affordably priced automatic watch with lateral time display and tricked-out upside-down Miyota movement.

MB&F is releasing the new M.A.D. 1 Red under the new M.A.D. Editions label.

MB&F’s new M.A.D. 1 Red looks very similar to the original blue-tinged M.A.D.1, which was available last year only to MB&F Friends and MB&F watch owners.

Like that first watch, the new model also displays time via two highly luminous rotating cylinders around its case. Just as eye-catching is the unidirectional titanium and tungsten triple-blade rotor spinning quickly atop the watch. MB&F makes all this happen by fitting and re-engineering the watch’s Miyota movement upside-down in the steel M.A.D. 1 Red case.   

In addition to the new cherry red hue on this Red edition, MB&F has thinned the bezel and added a traditional winding crown (at 12 o’clock) to the watch. The crown on last year’s blue edition featured a folding protector that doubled as a winding aid.

MB&F is making these special editions under a new brand name, M.A.D. Editions, and has long-term plans for additional models. Collectors who have previously contacted MB&F about the earlier M.A.D. Edition watch, or who already own an MB&F watch (or are MB&F Friends) are first in line to purchase the new watch.

If you’re not among those categories, there’ still a path toward obtaining your own M.A.D 1 Red: MB&F is conducting a lottery for interested buyers.

“Once we have the confirmations of the priority orders, we’ll then take all the remaining M.A.D.1 Red pieces available, and allocate them thanks to a lottery, open to everyone,” explains MB&F founder Max Busser.

“If you’re interested in participating in the lottery, which is of course totally free of charge, please go to our eShop to obtain a lottery ticket – and relax, there’s no rush, you have the next two weeks to get a ticket. After two weeks we’ll then proceed with a random draw, and we’ll let you know whether the draw has been favorable to you – in which case you will be able to place your order.”

Given the price (CHF 2,900) and the pedigree of the new M.A.D.1 Red, expect very high demand.

Deliveries of the M.A.D.1 Red commence in April and continue throughout the rest of this year. While the first deliveries will go to collectors who wrote to MB&F previously, MB&F expects to start delivering watches to the lottery winners between September and December.

For additional details see the MB&F eShop at: https://shop.madgallery.ch/

 

 

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Alpina

Alpina Updates Startimer Pilot Automatic

Alpina has updated its aviation-themed Startimer collection with a new design featuring a new case, new bezel and new 41mm diameter size.

One of the first new mechanical models displaying the updated design, the Startimer Pilot Automatic, sports a blue or black dial, a steel case and a steel bracelet or a top-stitched calfskin leather strap.

The new Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic.

Alpina notes that the new collection more closely echoes its own early pilot watch designs, with the newest size offering a compromise between the existing 44mm and 40mm versions, both of which will remain in the collection.

The new fluted bezel is especially notable for its retro appeal and was initially designed in the early part of the last century to give pilots wearing gloves a surer grip. Likewise, the watch’s crown is fluted to enhance a gloved grip, and is screwed down to ensure water resistance to 100 meters.

In addition, Alpina has revised the Startimer’s hands, changing the earlier leaf shape to the newer cathedral design, filled with luminous material. A new fine tip enables the index markers to be read more precisely. The seconds hand has also been updated with the Alpina triangular counterweight.

Both the new hands point to smaller Arabic numerals and a railway style minutes track. The five-minute intervals are marked by a luminous marker next to the numeral on the track.

Finally, Alpina has moved the date window from its previous location at 3 o’clock to a more traditional pilot watch location at 6 o’clock.

On the back is an engraving that features an airplane about to fly over a mountain, accompanied by the vintage version of the Alpina logo.

Inside Alpina fits its Sellita-based FC-525 automatic movement.

Look for the new Alpina Startimer Pilot Automatic in three variations: with a black dial on a steel bracelet (not pictured), a black dial on a black strap or a blue dial set with a brown calfskin strap.

(Note that Alpina also offers a quartz-powered Startimer Quartz Chronograph Big Date with the same design updates described above.)

Prices:  $1,295 (SS bracelet), $1,195 (leather strap).

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