Celestial Influence

Fine mechanical watchmaking gazes skywards to elicit lunar-centric creations in the form of unparalleled grand complications and complications that shine with astronomical flair in the cool cosmos of haute horlogerie.

- TAN SIOK HOON

REF. 6002R-001 SKY MOON TOURBILLON HAUT ARTISANAT BY PATEK PHILIPPE

One of the six standouts among the grand complication timepieces featuring handcrafted decoration presented in conjunction with the 2021 Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts exhibition, the Ref. 6002R-001 Sky Moon Tourbillon Haut Artisanat hails from the Genevan manufacture’s second most complicated wristwatch originally launched in 2001.

Its latest refresh boasts a new face in rose gold with brown Grand Feu enamel, where the periphery of the dial, moon-phase aperture, and moon of the rotating disc are rendered in champleve enamel. The precisely milled base metal assures the minute scale remains relieved, thereafter, the recesses are enamelled. The dial’s centre with Grand Feu cloisonne enamel decor is created with thin flat gold wire, sitting alongside a manually engraved double-faced case, crowns, repeater slide, hour/minute hands and fold-over clasp with volute and arabesque motifs on all sides that took the master engraver 100 hours to achieve.

Integrating 12 amazing complications, including a tourbillon and a minute repeater that strikes on cathedral gongs, the Sky Moon Tourbillon’s front dial displays a perpetual calendar with a retrograde date, a moon-phase display and the leap year cycle. On the reverse side is a celestial chart where the apparent motion of the moon and the stars can be viewed from the Northern Hemisphere. To facilitate the orchestration of all these cosmic bodies, a system of three superposed discs that move in different, precisely calculated trajectories was developed by Patek Philippe.