Introducing The Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon 6002G: A New Twist On Patek's Most Complicated Wristwatch Ever (Live Pics)

May 29, 2013

We just finished dinner here in Geneva, where Patek Philippe revealed its latest and greatest (seriously, it's a new take on Patek's most complicated wristwatch ever). ?Tonight, in the private salon above Patek's downtown Geneva boutique, we were shown the Sky Moon Tourbillon Reference 6002. ?While the technical differences between this Sky Moon and the original (reference 5002) are not extensive, they are there, and where this new reference shines is in its case and dial work. ? Let's first cover the technical strengths of the 5002 and the new 6002 Sky Moon tourbillon to see where they differ. ?Both features 13 complications and two dials. ?They?each possess aminute repeater with two cathedral gongs and a tourbillon; on the front dial, they both indicate standard timeand feature a perpetual calendar with a retrograde date and a moonphase display. The rear dials set the stage for astronomical functions: they show the northern sky, sidereal time, and the angularprogression and phases of the moon. But, the 6002, unlike the 5002, indicates the moon phases instead of themoon age, and features apertures instead of hands for the day of the week, month, and leap yeardisplays. But the biggest differences are physical. ?Patek calls the Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002 "a sculpture for the wrist." ?Here's why:?"The case of the Ref. 6002 is a superb oeuvre carved from the massive white-gold blank entirely byhand. The eloquent ornaments, arabesque garlands, and gently curved elements of the Calatravacross are produced with chip removal techniques using sharp burins that not only incise the preciousmetal but actually "lift" the decorations out of the gold surface. An involuntary movement or a briefmoment of distraction would ruin the case and it would have to be re-melted. But the engraver not onlymolds the gold in bas-relief but also applies the chisel to sculpt life into the small surfaces between thethree-dimensional structures. Thus, more than one hundred hours of work are invested until theengraving alone meets the approval of the master artisan and Patek Philippe's President Thierry Stern.With the same precision and artistry, the engraver uses relief techniques to decorate the minute-repeater slide in the case flank, the two crowns, and the white-gold clasp that locks the strap. Theornaments of the two crowns are as informative as they are decorative: The dynamometric windingcrown at 4 o'clock shows an arrow in relief to indicate the direction of rotation, while the moon andstars in relief on the crown at 2 o'clock reveal that it is intended to adjust sidereal time and the celestialfunctions on the rear dial." And on the dial side?"The front dial of the Ref. 6002 is a work of art in its own right. Its small surface unites the skills of manyspecialists who master milling, applique setting, and C most spectacularly C enameling with thechampleve? and cloisonne? techniques.The dial is crafted from a thin disk in gold that is milled out until the crisp railway track scale, thesurrounds of the dial center, calendar apertures, and moon-phase display stand out in relief. This isfollowed by the work of the specialized champleve? enameler who fills the recesses around the reliefcontours with molten enamel by hand. The viscous mixture of vitreous powder, metal oxides for color,and oil is applied with an ultra-fine brush. Even the smallest bounded recesses are carefully filled withenamel. When all recesses have been uniformly filled, the miniature oeuvre is fired in the oven at 850Celsius.Conversely, the center of the dial is decorated with so-called cloisonne? enamel. This techniqueinvolves shaping the contours of the blossoms and leaves using fine, flattened gold wire that must beaffixed to the dial. The result of countless hours of painstaking work is numerous separate cells(cloisons) that are then filled with enamel of different shades of blue. Again, the next step is firing andfusing for eternity in an oven at about 850 Celsius.While most contours in the form of silvery relief structures are embedded in blue enamel, the Romanhour numerals are gold appliques. Other dial elements such as the numerals and the markers of theretrograde calendar scale, the PATEK PHILIPPE GENEVE and TOURBILLON inscriptions, themovement number and the delicately pointed stars are painted bright gray.The small lunar disk is another fine example of champleve?: the circumference of the moon iselaborated in relief and enclosed with blue enamel. The cratered landscape of the moons surface isemulated with gradations of white, gray, and black enamel. This represents a huge effort for a singledial element, but it certainly ranks among the most poetic complications imaginable. For a watch of thelikes of the Sky Moon Tourbillon, no amount of work can be deemed unreasonable when the issue is topay tribute to the movement that ticks beneath the phenomenal dial." Sounds complicated, huh? It is, and that's why we let Patek explain it to you themselves above. Like the 5002, this Sky Moon has a caliber with 686 components at just 12.6mm thick - impressive for the level of complexity. There is no word on pricing officially, but the last known price of a Sky Moon was around $1.2 million, so assume the 6002G will be slightly higher. ?Here are some live photos of this monster watch I took tonight: And here all the press photos you could ask for: