If Patek Philippe had shown but one watch in 2023 – the sporty 6007G Calatrava which slipped out before Watches & Wonders – the fan base would be ecstatic.
But that is not the way of the watch world, and that classic, time-and-date-only dress/sport model was but a clarion call.
Each range within the Patek family has been enhanced by new models, of which the Aquanaut 5968R Chronograph is bound to create waiting lists.
Launched in 2018 in steel with black dial and strap, the first Aquanaut chronograph was followed in 2021 in white gold with dial and strap in midnight blue or khaki green.
This year it appears in a lush rose gold version with sunburst brown dial and strap, its uncluttered dial featuring a single 60-minute counter at 6 o’clock.
The chronograph elements, including the central chronograph hand and counter, stand out in white against the embossed Aquanaut dial pattern.
Inside is the self-winding flyback chronograph CH 28-520 C calibre, the flyback function providing instant restarts while the chronograph is running by pressing the pusher at 4 o’clock.
The 42.2mm-diameter case is water-resistant to 120m, while the integrated strap made of ultra-resistant composite material, continuing the Aquanaut pattern.
It is secured by the patented Patek Philippe fold-over clasp secured by four independent catches.
Also added to the Aquanaut range are the 39.9mm 5261R Aquanaut Luce Annual Calendar, the first annual calendar in the range.
Powered by the self-winding 26-330 S QA LU calibre, it features novel inverted display for the day at 3 o’clock, the month at 9 o’clock and moon phases at 12 o’clock, with the date in an aperture at 6 o’clock.
Its annual calendar mechanism, invented and patented by Patek Philippe in 1996, requires only one correction per year. Its stand-out looks are provided by a distinctive blue-grey dial embossed with Aquanaut pattern, rose gold applied numerals and baton-style hands and white luminescent coating, with integrated blue-grey composite strap with Aquanaut pattern and patented rose gold fold-over clasp.
For those who admire Patek Philippe’s complications, the pinnacle in the new line-up is represented by the Ref 6300GR Grandmaster Chime, the first version in white gold and rose gold.
It stands as the most complicated piece in the current collection, with 20 complications including the eponymous striking mechanism with three gongs and five chiming modes, patented alarm and date repeater mechanisms.
Impressive in its technology, it also dazzles for its looks, with its 47.7 mm double-faced white gold and rose gold case.
Other complications in the new ranges include the Ref 5316 Minute Repeater with tourbillon and retrograde perpetual calendar, the less complex 5178G Minute Repeater notable for the rare handcrafts hand-guilloche’d dial, and the 5531G Minute Repeater World Timer, combining the two hugely desirable functions in a timepiece graced with a luscious ‘rare handcrafts’ Grand Feu cloisonné enamel dial centre depicting a steamboat cruising on Lake Geneva.
Completing this year’s offerings are the 5224R 24-Hour Display Travel Time in 42mm rose gold case with blue dial, 5905R Flyback Chronograph Annual Calendar in rose gold with sunburst blue dial, and the 35mm ultra-thin 4997/200R Calatrava in rose gold with diamond-set bezel and bold purple lacquered dial.
Lastly, honouring a signature shape from Patek Philippe’s illustrious past is the 4962/200R Gondolo Serata, with quartz movement in a narrow-waisted, elongated rose gold case, with brown-lacquered dial and diamond setting.
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