Ten magical days in July, 27,449 visitors and over 450 watches shown in a 1,220 sq m space — Patek Philippe’s The Art of Watches Grand Exhibition New York 2017 was nothing if not a resounding success, and got New Yorkers talking about the event for weeks afterwards. Within the grand interiors of the iconic Cipriani on 42nd Street, Patek Philippe — one of the last family-owned Genevois watch companies — organised a most breathtaking public exhibition that showcased the manufacture’s tradition of high-precision watchmaking and gave an insight into the company’s 178-year history and its heritage in the domain of haute horlogerie. Founded in 1839 in Geneva, Patek Philippe shares a long and interesting history with the US, beginning when co-founder Antoine Norbert de Patek travelled stateside from Switzerland in 1855. He secured illustrious firm Tiffany, Young & Ellis as Patek Philippe & Co’s official agent. In 1932, Patek Philippe was acquired by the Stern family. A little more than a decade later, in 1946, Henri Stern founded the Henri Stern Watch Agency in New York as part of his responsibility to manage the distribution of the company’s timepieces in the US market. Henri returned to Switzerland in 1958 and took over from his father to become the company’s president. His son Philippe joined the family-run firm soon after, becoming general manager in 1977. Today, it is Philippe’s son, Thierry, who is Patek Philippe’s president. Here’s an interesting anecdote — it became tradition for members of the family to train at Patek Philippe’s New York office, which Thierry also did, so New York has both personal and professional significance for him. “New York was a logical choice for the US Grand Exhibition, as this was one of the first landing spots for Patek and [French watchmaker Adrien] Philippe in the 1800s when they began to explore the new world,” says chatty and warm Larry Pettinelli, Patek Philippe’s president for the US. “We are tremendously proud to have been allowed this rare opportunity to educate the public, not only about Patek Philippe but also the historical significance of timekeeping through the ages.”
BIG APPLE SPECIAL
Here are our picks from the collection of special-edition models unveiled during the exhibition

The new Ref 5531 is the first Patek Philippe watch that unites a minute repeater and the World Time function. Unlike other World Time minute repeaters that acoustically indicate home time even when their owners are located at the other end of the world, the Ref 5531 always shows the local time. To accomplish this feat, Patek Philippe developed the new self-winding calibre R 27 HU movement that is protected by an elegant rosegold case with pierced lugs. This masterpiece of craftsmanship pays tribute to New York and depicts the Manhattan skyline by day and by night, in limited editions of five watches each. All 10 watches have a sapphire-crystal caseback with the engraved inscription PATEK PHILIPPE NEW YORK 2017 as well as an interchangeable back in solid rose gold with the same engraving. All the watches in the new special-edition collection bear the same inscription.

Patek Philippe has combined sublime watchmaking prowess with gemsetting artistry for the Ladies’ Minute Repeater, which stands out with a blue enamel dial that sparkles with the fire of diamond hour markers. Its white-gold case features a flamme setting composed of 160 flawless Wesselton diamonds. This setting technique, proprietary to Patek Philippe, amplifies the radiance of the precious stones. The watch ticks to the tune of the ultra-thin self-winding calibre R 27 PS, which sounds the hours, quarter hours and minutes on two gongs when the slide in the case flank is actuated. This irresistibly feminine grand complication comes with a sapphire-crystal caseback and an interchangeable solid white-gold caseback.

Dome table clocks are the perfect canvas for refined decorations in cloisonné enamel using transparent, opaque and opalescent enamel paints. In The Gold-Seekers, a one-off piece, a panning scene has gold spangles that represent gold nuggets and silver spangles. On the Brooklyn Bridge by Night table clock (pictured), the artist has captured the nocturnal seductiveness of New York with grisaille enamel and Limoges white. Meanwhile, the Baseball table clock takes finesse a step further, reproducing the timeworn effect of old baseball cards with portraits of famous veteran players.

