Opening in Milan this week, Patek Philippe’s latest Watch Art Grand Exhibition brings together more than 500 timepieces and objects, museum treasures, seven new limited editions and a remarkable collection of Rare Handcrafts.
Patek Philippe is heading to Milan for the seventh edition of its Watch Art Grand Exhibition, and this time the scale has increased considerably.
Running from October 2 to 18 at CityOval, formerly the Palazzo delle Scintille, the exhibition occupies more than 2,900 square metres and is the largest the manufacture has staged to date. Fifteen themed spaces offer an unusually comprehensive look inside the Patek Philippe universe, spanning its current collection, historic timepieces, movements, grand complications, archival material and the artisanal techniques that remain integral to the house.
The occasion marks a significant moment for the watchmaker. The Watch Art Grand Exhibition concept began in Dubai in 2012, later travelling to Munich, London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo before arriving in Italy, one of Patek Philippe’s most important historic markets.
For collectors, the seven limited editions created exclusively for the Italian market will inevitably command attention. Leading them is Reference 5978P-010, a new platinum instantaneous perpetual calendar chronograph limited to 120 pieces. It brings together the manually wound CH 29-535 chronograph calibre and an instantaneous perpetual calendar for the first time, with day, date and month displayed through three apertures across its navy-blue dial.
Elsewhere, a trio of Calatrava models nods to the colours of the Italian flag, while the Aquanaut Reference 5167A-014 arrives with a blue sunburst dial, black gradient and flashes of red. Two particularly special World Time Minute Repeaters depict Milan by day and night in cloisonné enamel, with just five examples of each being produced.
Then things become considerably more artistic.
Twenty-five Rare Handcrafts creations have been developed around Italian culture, spanning wristwatches, pocket watches and clocks. The techniques involved include miniature painting on enamel, cloisonné, grisaille, engraving, guilloché, gem-setting and wood marquetry.
Among the highlights is the Burano pocket watch, which uses approximately 2.8 metres of gold wire and a palette of 70 enamel colours to capture the Venetian island’s painted houses and canals. Venetian Cruise, meanwhile, recreates a wooden pleasure boat entering the Grand Canal using 334 tiny veneer pieces, 15 smaller inlays and 37 different species of wood.
The craftsmanship becomes incredibly intricate on the City of Milan table clock, where approximately 11 metres of gold wire trace the city map around a golden silhouette of the Duomo. The Golden Ellipse Sunset in Tuscany takes a different approach, assembling more than 270 individual veneer elements from 57 wood species to recreate a Tuscan landscape at dusk.
Historical pieces add another dimension. Important watches from the Patek Philippe Museum have travelled from Geneva for the exhibition, including the first known perpetual calendar wristwatch made by the manufacture in 1925, a 1948 World Time wristwatch and a pendant watch presented to Queen Victoria at London’s Great Exhibition in 1851.
Visitors will also find dedicated spaces for super complications, chiming watches, watchmaking demonstrations, research and development and historical archives, alongside a presentation of the new Gondolo Ladies First collection.
For collectors, enthusiasts and anyone interested in the artistry behind fine watchmaking, Milan offers a rare chance to see Patek Philippe’s technical expertise, decorative crafts and historical legacy brought together on this scale.
