To celebrate Philippe Stern on his 85th year, Patek Philippe launched the Minute Repeater Alarm 1938P, a minute repeater with alarm. Price CHF890,000
To celebrate Philippe Stern, president of the manufacture from 1993 to 2009 and current honorary president, on his 85th year, Patek Philippe has developed the Minute Repeater Alarm Reference 1938P-001, a new chiming watch with a minute repeater and an alarm.
Thierry Stern, the fourth generation of the Stern family and appointed president in 2009, decided to honor his father by creating this special edition of 30 watches, endowed with a completely new movement developed solely for this piece and never to be used again. A watch identified as Reference 1938, commemorating the year of the honorary president’s life.
The choice naturally went to a minute repeater, Philippe Stern’s favorite complication, combined with an exclusive acoustic function: an alarm chiming the programmed time on the repeater mechanism’s two gongs.
This complex mechanism was one of the five acoustic functions and one of the two patented world firsts unveiled in 2014 for the manufacture’s 175th anniversary on the Grandmaster Chime Reference 5175, the most complicated Patek Philippe wristwatch, equipped with the manually wound caliber 300 “GS AL 36-750 QIS FUS IRM”.
Patek Philippe's engineers faced a significant challenge in developing the new caliber R AL 27 PS self-winding movement, as they needed to rethink the minute repeater mechanism to integrate the alarm. The goal was to have both the minute repeater and the alarm chime using the same two classic gongs, while maintaining the slide piece on the left side of the case, a hallmark of Patek Philippe minute repeaters.
To achieve this, the movement had to be capable of either instantly striking the displayed time upon sliding (in minute-repeater mode) or pausing the strike until the displayed time matched the programmed alarm time. Unlike traditional minute repeaters where sliding instantly activates the striking mechanism, the addition of an alarm system required disengaging the strike-work barrel from the strike train.
These challenges led to the incorporation of an additional 227 parts, including a lever and column wheel for selecting the chiming mode and a fusee device with a strike-work detent mechanism. This mechanism temporarily disconnects the power source (the strike-work barrel drum) from the striking mechanism, a feature typically found in grande sonnerie watches.
The push-piece integrated into the crown serves to select the chiming mode, displayed in a small bell-shaped aperture at 3 o’clock. When the watch is in minute-repeater mode (black bell) the user can actuate the repeater slide at any time to hear the chimes of the hours, quarters and minutes elapsed since the last quarter. When the watch is in alarm mode (red bell) the slide must be actuated again to wind the alarm (the bell changes from red to white). When the alarm has been actuated but has not yet sounded (white bell) it is possible to return to minute-repeater mode by pressing on the push-piece without this releasing the strike.
The 12-hour programmable alarm time is set from one quarter-hour to the next by means of the crown pulled out to the middle position and the Breguet-style center alarm hand in rose gold pointing to the scale in powdered rose gold on the periphery of the dial.
To allow the maximum number of chimes to be heard, the alarm of Reference 1938P-001 always strikes two minutes before the programmed time. Accordingly, if the alarm has been set for 3 o’clock, instead of three low-pitched strikes, which could go unnoticed. the watch will sound two low-pitched strikes, three double high-low strikes and 13 high-pitched strikes, making 21 strikes in total and creating a pleasing musical interlude.
The new commemorative model is also distinguished by its 41.5 mm x 14.2 mm platinum Officer’s-style case and its Grand Feu black enamel dial presenting a portrait of Philippe Stern in Grand Feu white and gray miniature painting on enamel. Applied Breguet-style numerals and Breguet-style hour and minute hands, all in white gold, enhance the elegance of the timepiece.
The sapphire crystal back of the timepiece, protected by a hinged dust cover engraved with "A mon père, 85 ans de passion horlogère" (To my father, 85 years of watchmaking passion), reveals the intricate details of the new R AL 27 PS self-winding movement. The bridges and hammers feature gilded chamfered edges, while the 22K yellow-gold mini-rotor is rhodium plated with yellow-gold edges. It is further enhanced with a black-lacquered hand engraving replicating Philippe Stern's signature.
Completed by an alligator leather strap in shiny black with a platinum fold-over clasp, the new Patek Philippe Minute Repeater Alarm Ref. 1938P-001 has a price of CHF 890,000. patek.com
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