Accueil
Chronographe rattrapante quantième perpétuel qui remplace le 5004.
An ultra-flat perpetual calendar
The perpetual calendar module integrated into this calibre is identical to that of the preceding Reference 5270, the first triple complication wrist chronograph presented last year. Remarkably thin (1.65 mm), this mechanism, comprising 182 component parts, combines “large levers, star-wheels for the date, day, and month, cams for the year, movable cams for leap years, jumper springs,” or in other words, 182 parts that have been tooled to the nearest micron and then hand finished—straight-grained sides, smoothed surfaces, chamfered and polished edges. Even the teeth in the gears and pinions have been “polished by hand, one by one, on a hardwood buff wheel”. This has all been done, not only with a concern for beauty, of course, but also with the goal of optimising the entire chain of energy transmission.
With its 496 component parts, of which 60 are used for the split-seconds hand alone, this chronograph movement vibrates at 4 Hz and has 65 hours of power reserve. It is housed in a superb platinum case measuring 40 mm in diameter with a thickness of 14.25 mm (not counting the noticeable curvature of the protective sapphire crystal). This relatively thin size demonstrates that not only is this complex movement housed in a very small space but that it evokes truly timeless elegance.
This timeless quality is emphasised even more by a series of small but striking details that range from the curvature of the crystal to the affirmed form of the pushers that recall the grand historic era of the chronograph. We must also mention the lovely concave shape of the bezel—a shape that is particularly difficult to polish—and the fine elongated lugs that enhance the harmonious proportions of this timekeeper and give it its timeless allure.
This distinct classicism is also seen in a number of small contemporary touches such as the hour and minute hands with three faces in black oxidised gold, whose centre is coated with Superluminova. Four counters share the dial in a manner that allows for the greatest readability, with a total of twelve separate displays housed on the silvered opaline background.
Encircled by twelve white-gold applied hour markers, the day and month are indicated in the traditional manner in two apertures lined up at 12 o’clock. The date hand is integrated into the aperture of the moon phase display at 6 o’clock, while the small seconds and 30-minute counter are placed in off-centre azure sub-dials at 9 and 3 o’clock. The leap year and day/night indicators appear in two small round openings at 4:30 and 7:30.
Mounted on an alligator strap with matte black square scales and a platinum foldover buckle, the Ref. 5204 is, of course, endowed with the Poinçon Patek Philippe (Patek Philippe Seal). And, as with all the platinum cases from the very sophisticated Geneva watch brand, a small Top Wesselton diamond is discreetly set in the case middle at 6 o’clock. Noblesse oblige
) !