Patek Philippe - Calatrava "Clous de Paris" Ref. 6119R and 6119G

Patek Philippe presented the new The Calatrava "Clous de Paris" 6119R and 6119G. Price: Euro 26,150.

Patek Philippe is updating one of its most emblematic dress watches, the Calatrava with a bezel decorated with a guilloched “Clous de Paris” pattern.

This diamond-polished motif composed of small pyramid tips first appeared on the bezel of a Calatrava in 1934, the Ref. 96D (D for décor). Since then, it has been reinterpreted in numerous versions. Probably the most successful model featuring this decoration element was the Reference 3919 launched in 1985 and produced for 20 years: it featured the manually wound caliber 215 PS, subsidiary seconds at 6 o'clock, a white dial with black lacquered Roman numerals and straight lugs. 

The Calatrava "Clous de Paris" comes now with a decidedly contemporary look, a slightly larger diameter of 39 mm, a dial with applied hour markers and a brand new hand-wound Patek Philippe movement that has been expressly developed for this model. 

Two versions have been presented. Reference 6119R-001 combines a rose-gold case with a silvery grained dial as well as applied hour markers and hands in rose gold. 

The Reference 6119G-001 in white gold features a charcoal gray dial enhanced by a vertical satin finish interrupted by the snailed subsidiary seconds dial. The applied hour markers and hands are made of the same metal as the case. 

The gold dauphine-style hour and minute hands have three instead of two facets. Legibility is excellent thanks to the railway-track minute scale at the periphery of the dial. The slender “cheveu”-style seconds hand rotates on the subsidiary subdial at 6 o'clock which is divided into four quarters.

Decorated with the guilloched hobnail pattern, the round bezel exhibits a slightly wider chamfered profile as well as a thin, polished fillet that frames the box-form sapphire crystal.

The shape of the strap lugs was reworked as well. Instead of straight, they are now curved for a smoother transition from the case to the strap as well as for more comfort on the wrist.

A brand new hand-wound Patek Philippe movement with a power reserve of 65 hours has been expressly designed for this model. Its development was based on the desire to have a manually wound movement with a larger diameter than the caliber 215 PS. 

In fact, the new caliber 30-255 PS has an inside case diameter of 30.4 mm (overall diameter 31 mm) as opposed to 21.5 mm for the 215 PS (overall diameter 21.9 mm) and an unchanged height of 2.55 mm which made it possible to limit the total thickness of the watch (crystal to back) to just 8.08 mm.

Particularly robust, the new caliber 30-255 PS delivers a power reserve of 65 hours or nearly three days. The result was achieved by using two mainspring barrels in a parallel arrangement. In contrast to barrels connected in series to extend the power reserve, parallel barrels increase the torque of the movement by adding the torque of the two barrels. 

This solution supports maximum force despite the slender architecture and allows the deployment of a balance with twice the moment of inertia of 10 mg/cm2. A higher moment of inertia improves rate stability and simplifies the precision adjustment of the movement that beats at the frequency of 4 Hz (28,000 vibrations per hour) with a maximum deviation of -3/+2 seconds in 24 hours.

The stop seconds feature that blocks the balance when the crown is pulled makes it possible to set the time with one-second accuracy. When the crown is pushed home, the mechanism kick-starts the balance to set it in motion again.

Visible through the sapphire-crystal case back, the caliber 30-255 PS is beautifully finished with six bridges - one for each wheel or function - with Geneva striping as well as chamfered and polished edges. 

Matched to a shiny chocolate brown or black alligator strap with a prong buckle made in the same metal of the case, the new Patek Philippe Calatrava "Clous de Paris", either in red gold (Ref. 6119R) or in white gold (Ref. 6119G), has a price of Euro 26,150. patek.com