One year after debuting the world premiere Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, Parmigiani Fleurier this year follows up with another premiere jumping hand watch, the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante.
The new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante.
The new watch echoes last year’s GMT by performing a classic timing function with a new, simpler operation. Where that earlier model allowed for a hand-based display of GMT time, the new watch allows the user to check elapsed minutes on-demand via a second minute hand hidden directly under the primary minute hand.
Instead of turning a calibrated bezel (as on a dive watch), the user simply presses a pusher to move the second, gold hour hand to the desired time.
With the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante, it’s the movement’s control of the second minute hand that performs the elapsed time display, not the user’s bezel-read calculation. The elapsed time is indicated when the primary minute hand reaches – and covers – the gold minute hand.
This display can be used for any fine calibration of the minutes over a specific period of time, or for any occasion or event requiring measurement of the minutes count, such as for cooking times or game times.
To use the function, the wearer can move the rose gold hand in either five-minute increments (via the pusher at 8’o’clock) or one-minute increments (via the pusher positioned at 10 o’clock). Once the two hands meet and superimpose, the period of time to be measured will have elapsed.
At any time, the wearer can return the gold hand to its position hidden underneath the rhodium-plated primary minute hand by pressing the crown-integrated pusher, in a similar way to the split-seconds function.
As on last year’s Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, this new hand-based time counting function is only visible when activated.
The movement that makes these functions possible, new caliber PF 052, is powered by an elegant rose-gold micro-rotor and is fully visible from the back of the 40mm steel case.
The functionality here is of course paired with the watchmaker’s high-end workmanship and finishing. These include a hand-cut Grain d’Orge guilloché dial in a sand grey color and 18-karat gold hands and markers. As on all Tonda PF models, the knurled bezel is platinum.
The new Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante is a welcome, ingenious addition to Parmigiani Fleurier’s new series of hand-based complication displays.
Price: $30,600.
Also new in 2023
In addition to the headliner Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante, Parmigiani Fleurier debuts a platinum-cased Tonda PF Flying Tourbillon with a stunning Milano blue dial ($163,700), a premiere all-platinum Tonda PF Microrotor model with time and date only ($92,800), and a trio of perpetual models displaying time using the Islamic, Chinese and Gregorian calendars.
The new Tonda PF Flying Tourbillon.The new all-platinum Tonda PF Microrotor.
The watchmaker also adds a rose-gold edition of last year’s premiere PF GMT Rattrapante, complete with a rich Grain d’Orge guilloché dial in Milano blue,($65,500) plus a rose-gold edition of its always impressive Tonda PF Split-Seconds Chronograph ($169,100).
A new rose-gold edition of last year’s premiere Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante.The Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Split-Seconds Chronograph, now in rose gold.
MB&F revisits its Legacy Machine Perpetual this week with a new model featuring a salmon-colored dial plate. The combination of a steel case and salmon hue is a first for MB&F, which will release the new model in limited production, not as a limited edition.
The MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual with its new salmon-colored plate.
MB&F’s latest Legacy Machine Perpetual, which won the Best Calendar Watch prize at the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) in 2016, offers the same groundbreaking, manual-wind LM Perpetual movement conceived by MB&F Friend Stephen McDonnell for the 2015 original.
That groundbreaking design means the Legacy Machine Perpetual will operate with no skipped dates or jammed gears. Owners often inadvertently create problems within their perpetual calendars by attempting to reset them while the gears are mid-function, resulting in some damage to the highly complex date mechanism.
McDonnell’s design is proactive in a sense because when the user attempts to adjust the calendar, the movement’s pushers automatically deactivate so they don’t cause any damage to other components.
At the heart of the difference is how the Legacy Machine Perpetual determines dates. Traditional perpetual calendars use a 31-day month as the default, changing, for example, from February 28 to March 1 quickly to arrive at the 1st. Interrupting the movement during this critical changeover can damage it.
With this perpetual calendar movement, Busser and friends essentially replaced that traditional system with a mechanical processor that instead utilizes that default 28-day month and adds extra days only as required.
Three years go MB&F added a sporty version of the perpetual calendar when it launched the Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO, a zirconium-cased update to the original model.
This new model, with its premiere 44mm by 17.5mm steel case/salmon dial plate-color combination, is a handsome – and welcome – addition to the full collection of a true ground-breaking original.
Price: $180,000.
Since its 2015 debut, the MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual has been offered:
– in platinum 950 with blue face (limited to 25 pieces);
– in 18k red gold with grey face (limited to 25 pieces);
– in 18k white gold with purple face (limited to 25 pieces);
– in 18k white gold with dark grey face;
– in grade 5 titanium with green face (limited to 50 pieces);
– in 18k yellow gold with blue face (limited to 25 pieces);
– in palladium 950 with aquamarine face (limited to 25 pieces);
Piaget launches the Polo Perpetual Calendar Ultra-thin, the watchmaker’s first perpetual calendar placed within its 42mm Polo case.
The new Piaget Polo Perpetual Calendar Ultra-thin.
While we’ve seen chronographs and skeletonized models within the watchmaker’s Polo collection, and watches with tourbillons and minute repeaters within the larger Polo Emperador cases, the new watch marks a first for the modern Polo case, and a premiere for what we’re hoping will be a series of perpetual calendar offerings within the pure Polo collection.
Powered by the new 1255P caliber, the thin watch (8.65mm) is the latest in an impressive collection of Piaget watches powered by variations within the 1200P caliber family, a series that itself stems from the famed micro-rotor caliber 12P, which in 1960 was the thinnest automatic caliber on the market.
In its new guise as a perpetual calendar, the caliber advances the day, date, and year (until the year 2100), months, moon phases and leap-year cycle.
Piaget launches the Polo Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin with an eye-catching dark emerald-green patterned dial with and three displays for the date, month (along with leap-year indication) and weekday at 9, 12 and 3 o’clock, along with the moonphase indication at 6 o’clock.
The dial’s horizontal line pattern continues a Polo dial tradition that also finds varying finishes within the four subdials. Note that the lines on the dial also appear as links on the steel bracelet.
New here is a Piaget interchangeable SingleTouch system for the bracelet that allows the wearer to easily change it and attach the included rubber strap.
Patek Philippe launched three variations to its hot Nautilus (including a white gold successor to its retired Ref. 5711) and extended its collection of complicated chronographs as part of an eight-piece debut this week.
The new Ref. 5811/1G-001 Nautilus features a case and bracelet in white gold as well as a blue sunburst dial with a black gradation. Price is $69,785.
While the new Nautilus debuts garnered much of the initial attention, it’s the new set of chronographs that attract collectors of Patek Philippe’s legendary (and less commodified) complications. (Read all about the trio of new Nautilus models, including the 41mm successor to the Ref. 5711 , on the Patek Philippe site.)
The chronographs
And among those chronograph debuts, look no further than the new Ref. 5373P-001, a split-seconds mono-pusher chronograph with perpetual calendar, for some true novelty. The watch differs from its predecessor (Ref. 5372) with newly inverted displays, pushers and crown.
New Patek Philippe Ref. 5373P-001, a split-seconds mono-pusher chronograph with perpetual calendar, differs from its predecessor (Ref. 5372) with inverted displays, pushers and crown.
Made for specifically “for the right-hand wrists of left-handers,” according to the watchmaker, the new 38.3mm platinum-cased watch is a premiere design for the company.
Patek Philippe notes however that a 1927 one-of-a-kind watch inspired the design of the new model. Like the earlier watch, the new watch features its integrated chronograph monopusher at the 9 o’clock position with the split-seconds pusher set, unusually, at 8 o’clock.
The sporty red, blackand grey dial on the Ref. 5373P-001 is cleverly finished with a black gradation at its edge, framing snailed ebony-black subsidiary dials.
The watch’s beautifully finished caliber CHR 27-525 PS Q, still the thinnest split-seconds chronograph movement with perpetual calendar ever produced by the manufacture, can be admired through the sapphire-crystal display back, which is interchangeable with the solid-platinum back delivered with the watch. Among the many caseback highlights is a view of the movement’s two column wheels with their two polished caps.
Finally, like all of Patek Philippe’s platinum watches, the new Ref. 5373P-001 features a brilliant cut diamond on its case. But here Patek Philippe flips the diamond’s location, placing it at the 12 o’clock position rather than at the 6 o’clock position. Price Upon Request.
The new Patek Philippe Ref. 5204G-001 split-seconds chronograph with perpetual calendar.
Split Seconds, right side
Also with a split-seconds chronograph with perpetual calendar, the new Ref. 5204G-001, with its standard, right-side crown and two pushers,features a 40mm white gold case and an olive-green sunburst dial. The watch complements a version released last year with a slate-grey dial and a rose-gold case. Price Upon Request.
The new Patek Philippe Ref. 5935A-001 self-winding World Time flyback chronograph stands out with its sporty vintage looks.
World Timer
In a premiere steel case, the Patek Philippe’s new Ref. 5935A-001 World Time flyback chronograph (with automatic caliber CH 28-520 HU) is bound to please collectors in search of steel Patek Philippe watches as well as those who covet its world timers.
A stunning rose-gold dial appears vintage while the ‘carbon’ motif’ dial interior is decidedly contemporary. That dial center is a reference to the 2020 limited edition inaugural model Patek Philippe’s newest manufacturing facility in Geneva. Patek Philippe includes two calfskin straps (grained taupe and beige with a velvet-like nubuck finish), each secured with stainless steel fold-over clasps. Price: $63,871.
The Ref. 7968:300R-001 Aquanaut Luce “Rainbow” chronograph in rose gold.
Luce Chronograph
Patek Philippe adds an automatic chronograph to its contemporary Aquanaut Luce collection for the first time, and then decorates the watch (Ref. 7968-300R-001) with a rainbow of sapphires and diamonds. Cased in 39.9mm rose gold, the watch’s white mother-of-pearl dial is engraved with an Aquanaut pattern as baguette multi-colored sapphires mark the hours alongside gold applied numerals. Price: $212,900.
The new Ref. 5990-1A-011 Nautilus Travel Time chronograph is one of Patek Philippe’s rare steel watches.
Travel Time
Patek Philippe has debuted a steel-cased Travel Time model with an eye-catching blue dial with a radiant sunburst finish and a subtle black gradation. The new Ref. 5990/1A-011 Travel Time is powered by automatic caliber CH 28-520 C FUS, which combines a flyback chronograph, a Travel Time function (two time zones with two separate hour hands; the skeletonized hand shows home time) and an analog date synchronized with local time. Price: $68,603.
Last month Patrick Getreide, a passionate collector who has spent the past four decades quietly building what is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest privately-owned collections of wrist and pocket watches, made his collection freely available for all to see in a remarkable international touring exhibition.
The OAK Collection exhibition (OAK stands for ‘One of A Kind’) comprises 160 vintage and contemporary museum quality watches, among which are unrepeatable special orders, ultra-rare limited editions, the most valuable examples of their type and the largest number of Patek Philippe pieces once owned by the celebrated collector Henry Graves Jr. to now be held in private hands.
Patrick Getreide and a selection of the OAK Collection.
Every watch is in truly perfect condition, with the majority of examples being new or virtually unworn. All are serviced on a regular basis by a highly experienced watch maker whose working life is dedicated to maintaining the collection which, having been patiently gathered and never previously revealed, could fairly be described as one of the watch world’s ‘best kept secrets’.
Tour coming to U.S.
The OAK Collection exhibition was first unveiled in London on May 19 before embarking on a global tour. (We’ll alert our readers about the location and date for the collection’s stop in the United States.)
Patrick Getreide (center) with Patrick Cremers from Patek Philippe (left) and Kari Voutilainen.
Getreide is a remarkable individual filled with exquisite passion to watchmaking and fine horology. He has amassed the OAK Collection (which comprises more than 600 pieces in total) and is happy to share the story of why and how he came to covet, and eventually own, many of the finest watches in the world.
“As a young boy at boarding school in Switzerland, I lived among the children of some of the world’s wealthiest people – but all I had was a small, weekly pocket money allowance. I didn’t feel envy, but I did want to be like these people and their parents. It gave me what I call ‘the Count of Monte Cristo syndrome’, a determination to achieve a level of success that would give me freedom to do the things I loved,” Getreide says.
A Patek Philippe Réf. 5070J
“As soon as I achieved a moderate level of success, I began to buy watches at prices I could afford,” he explains. “Gradually, that amount increased and, little by little, the watches became better and the passion for collecting them became stronger. Perhaps strangely, I never thought of the financial aspect or that values might rise – but, thankfully, I seem to have bought the right ones at the right time,” he explains.
Over the decades Getreide has built up a small, tight-knit network of experts whom he has come to know and trust and who are now the only people through whom he acquires additions to the OAK Collection.
An FP Journe Tourbillon Souverain
In the early stages of creating it, however, he would seek-out rarities everywhere he went.
“As I traveled the world on business, I would always look for watches – but it was at a flea market in France 35 years ago that I think I acquired my greatest bargain. It was a steel Patek Philippe Reference 130 Sector, and when I saw it, I began to shake.
“I see being able to send the OAK Collection exhibition around the world both as a reward to myself for building it and as a unique opportunity to share it with the many people who are just as passionate about watches as I am, but have not been as fortunate as me in having the time and the means to acquire so many special pieces” he continues, “I really do see owning them as an honor and, with that, comes an obligation to let others enjoy them.”
A Patek Philippe Réf. 1579A
Showing the collection
Although Getreide has long wanted to show his watches to other enthusiasts, it was his son who originally suggested doing so by means of a global exhibition having spent a lifetime observing his father’s undying passion for horology.
“I have not been involved in acquiring watches for the collection, but I have been on the margins of it for as long as I can remember,” he explains.
“It has taught me that true collectors are a rare breed who simply never lose interest in the subject they love, but only want to learn more about it. There have been many occasions when I have found my father, very late at night or in the early hours of the morning, poring over watch books either alone at his desk or lying in bed, with dozens of reference works spread out around him.
“As a boy, for example, I quickly grew to understand that when he suggested we looked at a few watches on a Saturday afternoon, it would be a case of spending five hours at his side hearing about every detail and every nuance. And as for shopping for watches with him – that was always a painfully embarrassing experience for me, because he would ask endless questions to ensure that whatever he was considering buying met with his exceptional standards. Nothing must have been tampered with, cases must not be polished, dials must not have been retouched. Originality is key and the overall condition must only be pristine. These have always been the golden rules.”
The collection
The OAK Collection was displayed at The Design Museum London within a series of bespoke-designed, interconnected rooms that were recreated at each location and have taken the viewer on a tranquil horological journey comprising eleven sections, each of which could be described as a ‘chapter’ of time that encapsulates the Getreide’s appreciation of specific genres of watch, from simple, three-hand models to high complication pieces.
A rare Patek Philippe Ref. 25231J, Second Generation.
The maker most strongly represented in the exhibition is Patek Philippe. Vintage Patek Philippe models include references once owned by noted individuals including the musician Eric Clapton and the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, as well as pieces that were developed for particular uses or which display the maker’s mastery of rare hand crafts such as enameling and engraving.
A Rolex Ref. 116506, the first one ever produced.
Also remarkable is the OAK Collection’s extraordinary holding of Patek Philippe watches that once belonged to the legendary patron Henry Graves Jr, the late banker and railroad tycoon who, between 1922 and 1951, commissioned no fewer than thirty-nine watches from the revered maker.
A Patek Philippe Ref. 51311P World Timer
Of those, only around thirty are believed to have survived, five of which form part of the OAK Collection. The only larger selection of Graves watches belonging to a single entity is that on show at the Patek Philippe museum, which holds thirteen.
The Patek Philippe models in the OAK Collection account for six of the exhibition’s 11 sections, covering Calatrava, Nautilus, World Time and perpetual calendar/ complication models in addition to the aforementioned Graves and rare handcraft pieces.
From the Graves section, a Patek Philippe Minute Repeater.
Rolex too
But while the collector focuses strongly on the work of Patek Philippe, he does not do so exclusively. As a Rolex connoisseur, he has allocated three significant sections of the exhibition to its pieces, and has also dedicated an area to watches made by the ‘new age’ independents, notably Francois-Paul Journe and Kari Voutilainen. Getreide’s commitment to modern makers is further demonstrated in the fact that, during the eight editions of the biennial Only Watch charity auction, he has been the most prolific buyer, accruing no fewer than ten unique pieces with dial names as diverse as Kari Voutilainen, H.Moser, and Chanel.
Source: The OAK Collection
Patrick Getreide with Vasken Chokarian, Editor-in-Chief iW Magazine Middle East.
iW Chats with Patrick Getreide
Vasken Chokarian, Publisher iW Middle East: Since you started buying watches to collect, did you ever imagine or think that you will get to where you are right now?
Patrick Getreide: Never. Absolutely not.
Your Patek Philippe collection at the OAK project presentation in The Design Museum in London is scary. I was stunned to see those amazing one of a kind watches, vintage or modern, collected by one person. Why Patek Philippe?
They are simply the best. They are the “Ferrari” of watches. They are the only ones to produce excellence in every category of watchmaking: complication, sport, classical etc…
Is your passion for collecting fine timepieces driven commercially?
Not driven at all by commercial objectives. I have never sold any of my timepiece except one piece only since I started collecting.
What advice do you give to today’s collectors who find it difficult to acquire watches they wish to collect?
Save money – learn a lot about watchmaking – patience.
Why present the OAK Collection, especially at such a global size and exposure?
To bring forth and present the fine watch making as a piece of art. My second objective was to be able to share it with the public.
Are you still collecting or there comes a time when you say it’s enough?
The more the time passes the more I love collecting watches. The passion remains intact.
What would be the first thing that appeals to you when you decide to go for a watch?
The dial attracts me first, then I feel some chills that make think this watch is for me.
How important are auctions to collectors? What other ways have you followed to collect watches?
Auctions are indeed very important but I also buy from some professionals.
What would you say if someone approached you today to buy it all? Would you sell? Why?
I would say “NO !” – I am not a sales man but a “buyer”…
From the collection, Patek Philippe Ref. 3970R, a special order.
iW Middle East has been supporting independent watchmakers for more than two decades. However there are so many who popped out during the last decade as independent watchmakers, some making “limited” watch collections and in doing so hiking up prices to unusual and sometimes illogical levels. What is your input on that practice?
That means that the watch market is in big expansion, we never have to complain about that. Moreover certain new indies could be the “big” watchmakers of tomorrow.
Where would you classify your drive and passion when it comes to buying a watch even though you are advised not to?
My experts explain to me about some watches particularities but at the end, it’s only me who makes my decision. Always.
A Rare Handcrafts Patek Philippe Ref. 2482-2.
The first that struck me about you is your humble and intellectual personality. How difficult is it for collectors to communicate and deal with watchmaking brands who are famed for their arrogance?
If arrogance is felt, it is very simple, I am not interested. Those who are arrogant – and there are many – I don’t buy their brands. Because I was raised learning that you should always respect the customer.
Which timepiece or an horology piece that you always wanted to have but you couldn’t?
Among the many caseback highlights is a view of the movement’s two column wheels with their two polished caps.
The watch complements a version released last year with a slate-grey dial and a rose-gold case. Price Upon Request.
Patek Philippe includes two calfskin straps (grained taupe and beige with a velvet-like nubuck finish), each secured with stainless steel fold-over clasps. Price: $63,871.
Cased in 39.9mm rose gold, the watch’s white mother-of-pearl dial is engraved with an Aquanaut pattern as baguette multi-colored sapphires mark the hours alongside gold applied numerals. Price: $212,900.
The new Ref. 
