With the Ref. 5350 Annual Calendar, Patek Philippe introduced the Spiromax balance spring in 2006
World of Patek Philippe
A quiet revolution! As the Patek Philippe Advanced Research department celebrates its twentieth anniversary, there is good reason to pay tribute to these innovators.
NICHOLAS FOULKES The British historian, book author and journalist is considered the most profound connoisseur of Patek Philippe. For beyond, he comments on specific epochs and phenomena.
Launched in 2005 under the direction of the brilliant JeanPierre Musy, the Advanced Research department has spent the last 20 years quietly applying twenty-first-century methods and materials to centuries-old horological problems. At the genesis of this department, the prime focus was on the material silicon. With it, they succeeded in revolutionising the inner workings of the watch – thanks to its amagnetism, elasticity, a hardness twice that of steel, a fabrication precision measured in microns and the fact that it required no lubrication.
Presented initial results of Advanced Research
through a magnifying glass in the crystal caseback: Ref. 5250 with an escape wheel in Silinvar, a proprietary silicon dioxide formulation.
through a magnifying glass in the crystal caseback: Ref. 5250 with an escape wheel in Silinvar, a proprietary silicon dioxide formulation.
First came the Annual Calendar Reference 5250, in which Silinvar, Patek’s proprietary silicon dioxide formulation, was first used to make an escape wheel that was two-thirds lighter than steel and yet compatible with the standards of the Geneva Seal (this was before Patek started its own seal). To showcase this breakthrough, Patek Philippe incorporated a magnifying glass in the crystal caseback.
In 2006, Patek Philippe introduced the Annual Calendar Reference 5350, and with it the Spiromax balance spring. Two years later the brand produced another Annual Calendar, the Reference 5450 with Pulsomax escapement, which combined the Silinvar escape wheel of 2005 with a Silinvar pallet lever. Then in 2011, the Oscillomax escapement made its debut in the Perpetual Calendar with the reference 5550.
More a demonstration of scientific prowess than actual widespread use, this single timepiece crystallised the scientific breakthroughs of the Advanced Research department thus far: escape wheel and lever in Silinvar, a Spiromax (Silinvar) balance spring and the GyromaxSi (Silinvar again) balance wheel. Such was the efficiency of Oscillomax that the Calibre 240’s power reserve jumped from 48 to 70 hours – a staggering improvement of almost 50%, but not before 17 individual patents had been filed.
The work of the Advanced Research department is not innovation just for the sake of it: what were once neologisms are now integrated into new watches. For example, the Pulsomax escapement was most recently used in the muchlauded Calatrava Ref. 5328G-001, one of the stars of this year’s Watches and Wonders fair. And the use of the Spiromax balance spring is now more or less standard across the Patek portfolio.
Its work on silicon completed, the Advanced Research department turned its focus to compliant mechanisms with the 2017 Aquanaut Travel Time, Reference 5650. With this watch Patek wept aside the labyrinthine complexity of the conventional 37-part dual-time mechanism and replaced it with a twelve-component construction in stainless steel. Here, the traditional notions of mechanical articulation gave way to a ballet of flexure – pivot points materialised not by the intervention of the pivot and jewel, but by the supple compliance of meticulously engineered steel, that minimised the need for lubrication and the likelihood of mechanical play over time.
12 instead of 37 parts: in 2017, the Ref. 5650 featured the first flexible dual-time mechanism.
Its sound surpasses everything that has gone before: the Ref. 5750P from 2021.
The most recent expression of Advanced Research ambition came four years ago with the Reference 5750P Minute Repeater. In a truly exclusive 15-piece edition, it transcends the acoustic limitations of traditional chiming watches. The “fortissimo ff” amplification module is all very scientific and way above my paygrade, but basically a wafer of sapphire crystal acts as a mechanical loudspeaker, increasing chime volume sixfold while maintaining acoustic clarity and quality. The amplified sound is then propagated through four strategically positioned apertures in a titanium ring. No mere stereo, this quadrophonic sound. This engineering approach effectively rethinks the way sound escapes from wristwatch by isolating the sound transmission path from the case material.
As the name suggests, it is loud. Just how loud became clear when Philip Barat (Head of R&D) tested one in the company’s car park. Incredibly, the sound carried for 60 meters. If Thierry Stern wants to give the Patek Philippe Advanced Research department a 20th birthday present, a bigger carpark might be just the thing.
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