Complications
5249R-001
$411,388
5249R-001
HOUR AND MINUTE ON DEMAND. AUTOMATON.
A horological fable
The Manufacture presents the first automaton wristwatch in its contemporary history, inspired by a pocket watch designed by Louis Cottier in 1958 that displays the hours and minutes on demand. Based on Jean de La Fontaine's fable The Crow and the Fox, the fascinating animation of time plays out on on the surface of a rose gold Officer’s-style case and a brown “Matara” dial.
Automaton with on demand retrograde display for hours and minutes, self-winding caliber 31-260 PS HMD AU.
Complication inspired by the pocket watch “The Crow and the Fox” (ref. 784), conceived by Louis Cottier in 1958 and preserved in the Patek Philippe Museum.
Rose gold dial with opaline finish and matara brown color, featuring applied “fox” and “crow” highlighted with contrasting colors. Hand-engraved foliage decorations in gold.
On demand retrograde indication of hours and minutes (pusher at 2 o’clock), by automaton for the hours. Hour and minute scales, Patek Philippe cartouche in rhodium-plated yellow gold, with black transferred numerals and logo.
Decorative small seconds at 6 o’clock, set with a diamond at its center, indicating that the movement is running.
Fully polished “Officer” style rose gold case with sapphire crystal caseback protected by a dust cover with an invisible hinge. Turban-style crown.
Shiny chocolate brown alligator leather strap, with rose gold patented triple-blade fold-over clasp.
Technical characteristics
Opaline matara brown. 18K gold dial plate. Applied “fox” and “crow”, hand-engraved foliage decorations in gold.
Rose gold. Diameter: 43 mm. Thickness: 11.55 mm. Water-resistant to 30m. Sapphire crystal case back protected by a dust cover with invisible hinges.
Alligator leather with square scales, shiny chocolate brown. Rose gold patented triple-blade fold-over clasp.
31-260 PS HMD AU
Self-winding
On-demand retrograde hours and minutes
Automaton
Decorative small seconds
Diameter: 33.8 mm. Thickness: 4.00 mm. Number of parts: 267. Number of jewels: 28. Power reserve: min. 38 hours – max. 48 hours. Winding rotor: platinum off-center minirotor. Balance: Gyromax®. Frequency: 28,800 semi-oscillations/hour (4 Hz). Balance spring: Spiromax®. Distinctive sign: Patek Philippe Seal.
A subtle alchemy between watchmaking complications and rare handcrafts
This automaton wristwatch is powered by the 31-260 PS HMD AU caliber with additional retrograde mechanism for indicating the hours and minutes on demand. This required the development of a patented disengaging clutch system to secure the time-setting mechanism.
A masterpiece of fine craftmanship
The dial is composed of an 18K gold plate featuring a matara brown color and an opaline finish, fitted with 12 gold appliques, of which 9 are hand engraved. Each watch requires 150 hours of manual work to engrave all the appliques. In view of their finesse and diminutive size, these parts called for great precision and a rare kind of know-how.
