Patek Philippe Pushes the Limits On Women’s Complications
For hundreds of years, Patek Philippe has been hand crafting the most extraordinary timepieces for women as well as for men. A superb tradition carries on.
Earlier this year, at Watches & Wonders Geneva, the venerable brand Patek Philippe showcased a host of new timepieces, including a couple of firsts for the brand. However, it was in the realm of its women’s complications that the brand really excelled – simply because there are very few watch brands that understand women and cater to them with complicated watches chocked with features and functions all too often reserved just for men.
In fact, Patek Philippe has a long and storied past when it comes to creating watches of distinction for women. While some brands focus on dazzling diamond and gemstone creations for women, Patek Philippe goes beyond the beauty to offer real brains – mechanical movements with world timers, perpetual calendars, minute repeaters, and more.
Certainly, the brand uses its artistic prowess to ensconce some of these watches in diamonds and gemstones or to work its magic with Métiers d’Arts hand-painted or marquetry dials, but those are more of the icing on the proverbial cake, so to speak. The true magic lies in what is inside the watch and the power and confidence that it instills to the person with the timepiece on her wrist.
For the new Patek Philippe complicated women’s watches for 2022, elegance, symmetry, beauty, and pure function come together superbly in the women’s complications from this more than 170-year-old Swiss brand. Two of the newest introductions showcased earlier this year are absolute proof.
For the Calatrava Ref. 7121/200G-001 Phases of the Moon watch, for instance, the brand reinterpreted its stunning moon phase indication on a gradient blue dial. Wrapped in a 33mm case of 18-karat white gold, the watch is set in a lace-like Dentelle pattern with a double row of 132 brilliant-cut diamonds to emulate the stars in the sky. The new version of a nearly 10-year-old beloved classic boasts a sunburst dial motif for added effect. The watch is powered by the brand’s manually wound mechanical Caliber 215 PS LU, which is the smallest complicated movement Patek Philippe makes.
Even more alluring, though, is the new Ref. 7130 R14 self-winding World Time watch. The first World Time watch for women by Patek Philippe was released 11 years ago and has become a true favorite of discerning women around the world. The newest version – with the cities listed on the outer chapter ring of the dial and the 24-hour indication for day/night determination – is crafted in one of the most coveted colors of this decade: olive green. The center of the dial is a sophisticated work of craftsmanship and boasts a specially designed basketweave guilloche’ pattern. The world traveler has no issue reading the names of the cities, as they are brightly lettered in white.
To power this self-winding watch, Patek Philippe equips it with the patented Caliber 240 HU ultra-thin movement, which enables the brand to keep the watch to a very wearable size of 36mm. This caliber simultaneously and permanently showcases the time in all 24 key time zones. The 18-karat rose gold case boasts a sapphire crystal case back for viewing the 239-part movement, which – like all Patek Philippe calibers – carries the brand’s hallmark, the Patek Philippe Seal. The watch is set with 62 diamonds on the bezel and another 27 on the buckle. It is finished with a hand-stitched calfskin strap in color-coordinated shiny olive green.
Indeed, the list goes on and on when it comes to exceptional women’s complicated watches from Patek Philippe. This family-owned brand builds its timepieces to the strictest standards of excellence and never holds back on offering form and function to women and men. All of its movements are extremely accurate, with a maximum tolerance of -3/+2 seconds per day. All of the movement parts are finished by hand to exacting requirements, ensuring that even the components not seen by the wearer are as beautiful as those that are visible.
For discerning women who want to show off their smart, sophisticated, and yet beautiful side, Patek Philippe has all the answers. Other complicated watches from this brand run the gamut (albeit exclusively so) from annual calendars to perpetual calendars, pulsometers, chronographs, and even a combination of annual calendar and chronograph. Oh, and let’s not forget those divine acoustical minute repeaters. Be still my heart.
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