Striking time

Patek Philippe recently unveiled its new Ref 6301P Grande Sonnerie wristwatch, which is as much a testament to the technical superiority of the brand as it is a revealing statement of intent for its future path

- VARUN GODINHO

The Grandmaster Chime Ref 5175R, which was launched in 2014, was a breakthrough timepiece – and not by some narrow, inward, company-defined metric, but on a universal watchmaking standard. Need proof? The two-sided wristwatch, which was released to commemorate Patek’s 175th anniversary, featured a staggering 20 complications.

Among those many complications, the Grandmaster Chime carried a grande sonnerie for the very first time in a Patek wristwatch. In fact, it went further. It also had a total of four other strikework complications apart from the grande sonnerie (which strikes the hours and quarter hours), including a petite sonnerie (which strikes the hours), an alarm, a date repeater and a minute repeater (which chimes the time on demand). An approximately $2.5m price tag placed it in the rarified company of multi-million dollar timepieces.

By 2016, Patek decided to launch the Grandmaster Chime as part of the regular collection and the Ref 6300G was the result – a statement piece that is the watch of choice for moguls like Jay-Z who wore one to Diddy’s 50th birthday party in 2019.