When it comes to prestigious watch manufacturer Patek Philippe, the craftsmanship and technique involved in making each timepiece requires exceptional skill. From the Calatrava to Complications, Patek Philippe watches are entirely handcrafted by masters of artisanship. Whilst all of the watches require the utmost attention to detail, Grand Complications are the most complex.

Complicated watchmaking is the supreme test of the designer's expertise and watchmakers' skill.

 

Minute Repeater

An horological marvel, one of the complications mastered by Patek Philippe is Minute Repeaters. These watches are equipped with a slide lever on the side of the case, which once activated, prompts the mechanism to strike out the hours, quarters and minutes upon request by way of a series of chimes. Historically, Minute Repeaters helped visually-impaired wearers tell the time, and enabled people to tell the time in the dark before electricity was widely-used. Today, Minute Repeaters are admired by watch lovers as masterpieces of mechanical precision. One of Patek Philippe’s spectacular Minute Repeaters with additional complications is the Minute Repeater Tourbillon Reference 5303R, which has a striking open architecture, revealing the complicated mechanism of the watch.

Perpetual Calendar

The Perpetual Calendar is another highly complex mechanism, which automatically recognizes the different lengths of the months and leap years, and only requires correction once every 400 years. Perpetual Calendars are truly generational timepieces, as per Patek Philippe slogan “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.” Among the Perpetual Calendars in Patek Philippe’s Grand Complications collection, Reference 5327R is made with a Calatrava case, bringing the classic line’s elegant look to Grand Complications to house the complex movement inside.

Split-Second Chronograph

Chronographs are renowned for their usefulness in being a stopwatch as well as a regular watch. Patek Philippe takes this one step further with Split-Seconds Chronographs, a challenging complication to master. Split-Seconds Chronographs enable the wearer to measure two events simultaneously and comparatively, adding an extra dimension to a regular Chronograph’s capabilities. Reference 5370P houses a Split-Seconds Chronograph, beautifully displayed on a Grand Feu blue enamel dial.

Astronomical Watches

Patek Philippe have a great tradition of astronomical watches, presenting the wearer with celestial information. A beautiful illustration is the Reference 6104R, which has a magnificent dial devoted to a rotating chart of the ‘heavenly bodies’. The wearer can admire the precise configuration of the nocturnal sky in the northern hemisphere, with the apparent movement of the stars and the phases and orbit of the moon. The timepiece features two skeletonized hands which point to mean solar time, and the sapphire glass has an Ellipse deposited on the underside, framing the area of sky visible from Geneva.

Grandmaster Chime

The most complicated wristwatch ever made by Patek Philippe is the legendary Grandmaster Chime. For 2023, Patek Philippe reinterpreted the design, by offering for the first time a two-tone version, the Reference 6300GR-001, combining white gold and rose gold, along with brown opaline dials. The Grandmaster Chime is an incredible masterpiece of time-honoured techniques and superior craftsmanship, the crown atop of the exceptional range of Grand Complications.