For Patek Philippe, this year’s return to Geneva for Watches and Wonders was marked by the debut of 17 new timepieces. The expansive lineup of new models is characterized by technical and aesthetic innovation, with each watch defining new-age attributes of the brand’s vast collections. Five of the timepieces fall into the Grand Complications category, one that is emblematic of Patek Philippe in its experimentation past the boundaries of horological capability. Revealed by the name, the collection is home to some of the most complicated executions from the brand, with the latest example Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime (ref. 6300GR-001) taking the title of the most complicated of them all.
The Grandmaster Chime first joined the Patek Philippe product catalog in 2016, gaining renown for its five chiming modes, including an alarm that strikes a pre-selected time and a date repeater that strikes the date on demand. In total, the watch is equipped with 20 total complications and never sacrifices aesthetic prowess in spite of its expansive functionality. For its latest reinterpretation of the watch, Patek Philippe introduces an all-new design featuring a bicolor case combining white gold and rose gold.
With such a large range of functions, it is imperative that the design of the Grandmaster Chime supports its capabilities, a notion certainly reflected by the case, which is reversible. The 47.7mm exterior can be worn with either of its flat sides facing outward thanks to a patented swivel mechanism. On the sides of the case are all of the pushers and the crown that operates its various functions, all made from rose gold. Between the white gold lugs is the red gold mechanism that connects to the main case and allows it to swivel smoothly. Completing the two-tone design, the slim bezel is made from polished white gold.
Coinciding with the two-sided case design, there are two distinct dials that work to indicate the complete range of functions. The first side, the time side, has standard hour markers along with two sub-dials at 12 and 6 o’clock. Behind the red gold Arabic style numerals on the periphery of the dial is a brown opaline surface that turns into a hand-guilloched hobnail pattern towards the center of the dial. On the reverse, the calendar side has a four sub-dial layout with a year aperture in the center of the dial. The brown opaline dial is accented with 18k gold dial plates.
At the heart of this extravagant timepiece is the manually wound caliber 300 GS AL 36‑750 QIS FUS IRM. With a total of 1366 parts, the mechanism measures 37mm in diameter with a height of 10.7mm. The movement power reserve is 72 hours while the strikework power reserve is 30 hours. The complete list of complications powered by the manufacture movement is as follows: a grande and petite sonnerie, a minute repeater with classic gongs, a strikework mode display (S G P), an alarm with time strike, an alarm on/off indication, a date repeater, a movement and strikework power-reserve indication, a strikework isolator indication, a second time-zone, a second time zone day/night indication, an instantaneous perpetual calendar, day, date (on both dials), month, the leap-year cycle by hands, a four-digit year display in an aperture, the moon phases, a 24-hour and minutes subdial, and a crown position indication (R A H).
Pricing for the Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime (ref. 6300GR-001) is available upon request. The model also comes with white gold cufflinks featuring a brown opaline center, a hand-guilloched hobnail pattern, and a rose gold Calatrava cross.
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