Patek Philippe has recently unveiled in Geneva one of his greatest sets of complications, which will definitely be marked as innovation in the world of timekeeping. The Ref 6002 Sky Moon Tourbillon in white gold is one of the greatest pieces Patek has put together, with its 12 complications and two dials.
This Sky Moon follows the 2006-unveiled Ref 5002, which was simply astounding. Worldwide known as one of the greatest and most important timepieces ever created, it embodies extremely elegant looks, fashionable style and a tremendously intricate complication.
Ref 6002 follows closely behind in all terms, being mainly distinguishable by the case. Manufactured from pure white gold, it is gorgeously engraved by hand and measures around 43 mm x 16 mm. That garnish, those “eloquent ornaments, arabesque garlands, and gently curved elements of the Calatrava cross are produced with chip removal techniques using sharp burins that not only incise the precious metal but actually ‘lift’ the decorations out of the gold surface”, are fantastically superb!
In addition to the process of molding, the engraver “not only molds the gold in bas-relief but also applies the chisel to sculpt life into the small surfaces between the three-dimensional structures.” The minute repeater slide is nicely engraved as well, just like the white gold clasp on the strap and the crowns. In order to achieve such beauty and elegance, the engraver spends above a hundred hours of painstaking work. The President of Patek Philippe, Thierry Stern, demands all this precisely.
Patek Philippe even describes the work done to the two crowns in a gorgeous manner, as its ornaments are as informative as they are decorative – “the dynamometric winding crown at 4 o’clock shows an arrow in relief to indicate the direction of rotation, while the moon and stars in relief on the crown at 2 o’clock reveal that it is intended to adjust sidereal time and the celestial functions on the rear dial.”
And there’s more in terms of shockingly beautiful features on the Ref 6002 – the dial for example is crafted from blue enamel done in both cloisonné and champlevé techniques. The cloisonné technique involves the application of a fleur pattern, seen in this case in the center of the dial. The contours of those stunning blossoms and leaves are manufactured from fine, flattened gold wire painstakingly affixed to the dial. The resulting cells, also known as cloisons, are then filled with enamel of all sorts of blue tones and then fired. The gold Roman hour numerals, if you take a closer look, are placed on top of the enamel, not embedded into it like virtually all other embellishments. Furthermore, the numerals and markers of the retrograde calendar scale visible on the outer edge of the dial, the movement number, the delicately pointed stars and the PATEK PHILIPPE GENEVE and TOURBILLON inscriptions are also not embedded into the enamel but painted on it. And look at those gorgeously engraved hands – such a treasure piece!
Sticking to the special features of the Patek Philippe Ref 6002 Sky Moon Tourbillon, our next targets are the apertures for calendar day of week, month and leap year display indications. As for the caliber, the one mounted into the Ref 6002 encompasses 686 components, based on the astronomical module developed for the Star Caliber 2000. It measures just 12.6 mm in thickness and comes finished in the one off Patek ways with a seal as such.
I’m going to limit my description here by mentioning the price needed to be paid for such exquisiteness. It will cost a whiff above $1 million apiece, while the production will probably be extremely limited. The Ref 5002 used to be manufactured in 2 pieces per year.
[Perpetuelle]
