Patek Philippe Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar Moonphase, Black Dial – Yellow Gold on Strap

This wristwatch unites two complications consummately mastered by Patek Philippe: a perpetual calendar and a minute repeater. The self-winding movement with a strike train embodies all functions of a full calendar as well as a moon-phase display. The Ref. 5074 stands out with remarkable sonority. Patek Philippe devoted considerable resources to metallurgical and acoustic research with the aim of crafting gongs that produce an incomparably pure sound.

On demand, the minute repeater strikes the hours, the quarter-hours, and the minutes that have elapsed since the last quarter-hour. One hammer strikes the hours on the low-pitched gong once for each hour. Subsequently, each quarter-hour is sounded as an alternating double strike by two hammers on both the high- and low-pitched gongs. Finally, the second hammer strikes the high-pitched gong to count the number of minutes that have passed since the last quarter-hour. 12 low strikes, three double high-low strikes, 14 high strikes: This constitutes the melody with a total of 32 strikes at 12:59.

The “cathedral” Gongs
To optimize the acoustic quality of a minute-repeater wristwatch, the “cathedral” gongs are shaped to encircle the movement not just once, but nearly twice. This makes them almost twice as long as conventional gongs. The result: greater vibrational stability and better acoustic characteristics.

The Perpetual Calendar
The perpetual calendar indicates the date, the day of the week, the month, and the leap-year cycle, automatically taking into account months with 28, 29, 30, and 31 days. It switches directly from September 30 to October 1 or from February 28 to March 1. In leap years, it indicates February 29 before switching to March 1. If the watch is worn regularly or kept in a winder, the perpetual calendar mechanism will require no manual correction until February 28, 2100, a secular year in which, as an exception, February
29 is skipped.

– Mechanical self-winding movement
– Caliber R 27 Q
– Minute repeater and perpetual calendar
– Chime with two “cathedral” gongs activated by a slide piece in the case
– Day, date, month, leap year by hands
– Moon phases and a.m./p.m. indication
– Black dial, gold applied numerals
– 18K gold dial plate
– Interchangeable full back and sapphire-crystal case back
– Case is humidity and dust protected only (not water resistant)