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Patek Philippe celebrates the fine art of chronography with its 'Ladies first chronograph' watch

The world of watchmaking applauds yet another breakthrough from the celebrated house of Patek Philippe – considered one of the top watch brands in the world.

For Patek Philippe, the launch of a new hand-wound chronograph movement developed and crafted entirely in-house, is a further manifestation of the manufacture’s independence and spirit of innovation. The traditional column-wheel-controlled CH 29-535 PS caliber proudly shows off its roots, standing out with several innovations and patented improvements that optimize the chronograph’s functionality and reliability. As an elegant tribute to the feminine mystique, this exceptional movement will first tick in a wristwatch chronograph dedicated to premiere as a ladies’ model. Hence the name - “Ladies First Chronograph”... It begins a new chapter in Patek Philippe’s longstanding commitment to ladies’ timepieces. At the same time, it ushers in a new, long awaited era for all enthusiasts of mechanical chronographs. The CH 29-535 PS caliber and the Ref. 7071R “Ladies First Chronograph” had their debut in Paris in early November. The inauguration of the new Patek Philippe showrooms at Place Vendôme – completely renovated and remodeled in the past months – was the welcome occasion.

Within the extensive portfolio of complications that demonstrate Patek Philippe’s virtuosity in timekeeping, the chronograph has always played a pivotal role. With many patented technical innovations to its credit as well as its continuous quest for combining performance with refined and understated aesthetic appeal, the Geneva-based manufacture has evolved to become one of the most respected makers of this comparatively technical category of timepieces. Born in the 1820s, chronographs today are perfect icons of our modern era.

This year’s launch of the CH 29-535 PS movement is the reward for five years of development work. It is also an important milestone for the workshops which now have a new manually wound chronograph movement designed and manufactured entirely in-house. To arrive at this point, Patek Philippe had to mobilize the full breadth of skills and experience of its team to devise an exceptional mechanism that matches and in many instances exceeds the CH 27-70 movement – still deemed by connoisseurs and aficionados as the most beautiful traditional chronograph caliber ever made. But the effort has paid off: the CH 29-535 PS is a worthy successor of the legendary movement. With its flawless technology and artisanal finish, it is a perfect ambassador of Patek Philippe’s

Additionally, the CH 29-535 PS creates fresh latitude for further developments and a new generation of wristwatch chronographs with and without extra complications. As a traditional chronograph movement, it will gradually replace the current (Nouvelle Lémania-based) caliber CH 27-70. The CH 29- 535 PS is an important enrichment of the portfolio of Patek Philippe movements which now encompasses 21 basis calibers with a total of 45 different versions.

The CH 29-535 PS is based on the principle of the column wheel, no doubt the defining hallmark of truly beautiful mechanical chronographs. At Patek Philippe, it is crowned with a polished cap. The watch has a large chronograph hand, a seconds sub-dial, and an instantaneously jumping 30-minute counter. Its large four-spoke Gyromax balance wheel with four poising weights beats at a frequency of 4 Hz (28,800 semi-oscillations/hour). The caliber has a power reserve of 65 hours (58 hours when the chronograph is activated). The clutch lever exhibits the classic “S” shape. The aesthetic design vocabulary also extends to the chronograph wheel bridge and the minute-counter bridge. The movement has a stop-seconds feature that makes it very convenient to accurately synchronize the watch with an official time signal.

Even though the CH 29-535 PS movement is based on the classic architecture of column-wheel control and a geared clutch system, it is a brilliant masterpiece that unites six patented innovations – each one is a manifestation of the workshops’ inventive spirit. The caliber engineers examined all of the essential components of the chronograph mechanism and embarked on the quest for new solutions that would improve precision, reliability, longevity, and convenience. Their focus always remained on functionality and user-friendliness as stipulated by the principles of horological artistry and by the Patek Philippe Seal.

The architecture of the CH 29-535 PS movement also exhibits a number of other remarkable features that have just as positive an impact on its functionality and performance as the six patented inventions associated with the development of the new chronograph movement. One of them is the instantaneous 30-minute counter that is much more difficult to engineer than a semi-instantaneous or continuous counter. This clever device advances the small minute hand within fractions of a second, resulting in greater accuracy and clarity of the reading. Another example is the driving wheel of the chronograph: it is integrated directly in the train and does not need to be separately assembled by the watchmaker. This construction improves the reliability of the chronograph functions.

The new CH 29-535 PS caliber combines Patek Philippe’s ancestral know-how with latest-generation patented technologies. These innovations allow the watchmaker to focus on refining functionality and on achieving high-precision rate accuracy. This not only addresses customer expectations but also assures compliance with the strict precision criteria of the Patek Philippe Seal.

Excerpt from the directives of the Patek Philippe Seal:
"In the course of various levels of completion, the rate accuracy of Patek Philippe watches is tested in both raw and fully cased movements. The final check of rate accuracy is performed with kinetic simulators and the results must be in line with the following Patek Philippe precision benchmarks:
• For calibers with diameters of 20 mm or more, the rate accuracy must lie within the range of -3 and +2 seconds per 24 hours (rounded to integers).

As befits Patek Philippe’s heritage, the CH 29-535 PS presents itself as a new point of reference for aesthetic appeal and artisanal workmanship. Its salient features include captivatingly elegant components and old-style bridges that are meticulously chamfered, polished, and decorated with Geneva striping. Every surface, no matter how small, is beautifully finished in numerous consecutive steps, most of them manually executed. And in compliance with the criteria of the Patek Philippe Seal, none of the movement embellishments interfere in any way with the caliber’s functional integrity.

The breathtaking Patek Philippe collections are exclusively available at The Watch and Jewellery Gallery in South Africa and is located at Shop 33, Nelson Mandela Square, Shop 33, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton. For more information please contact the store on 011-7842587 or visit www.patek.com