It has been a few days since the biggest watch exhibition of the year drew to a close. But without losing a beat, Patek Philippe announces an unexpected release that has got our hearts pumping. Introducing the all-new Ref 5470P 1/10th Second Monopusher Chronograph – the brand’s first wrist chronograph for tenths-of-a-second short-time measurements powered by a new and precise high-performance movement.
With this new timepiece, the brand reaffirms its competence and innovative spirit in the field of short-time measurement. For this special timepiece, Patek Philippe introduces a manually wound movement that features two separate chronograph mechanisms, sweep hands, a higher frequency of 5Hz and a tenth-of-a-second display. This high-tech caliber with 31 patents of which seven new patents are specific to this new mechanism marks the brand’s long-standing association and expertise in the world of chronographs.
Creating this movement
To create this wrist chronograph that can measure and display tenths of a second, Patek Philippe took the base of the Caliber CH 29-535 (one of their in-house movements) that was launched in 2009. This movement features the traditional architecture of a Patek Philippe manual wound movement with its column-wheel control, horizontal wheel clutch and split-seconds version with two sweep chronograph hands.
The first task was to increase the frequency of the movement from 4Hz to 5Hz thus allowing the measurements of tenths of a second. This has been made possible with the help of the innovations from the Advanced Research department, including the Oscillomax ensemble. This is the first time since the launch of the perpetual calendar “Patek Philippe Advanced Research Ref. 5550P“ (2011) that Patek Philippe has added the Oscillomax® ensemble in its current collection. But the presence of a higher energy and a sweep seconds hand was not enough to display tenths of a second with the desired accuracy. So, the designers resorted to equipping the Caliber CH 29-535 PS 1 /10 with two independent chronograph mechanisms; one for the seconds and the instantaneous 30-minute counter, the other exclusively for measuring and displaying stopped tenths of a second.
But the Maison was not satisfied as it was essential to ensure that the watch could display the tenths of a second, the seconds, and minutes of the chronograph in an organised, fast and dependable manner. Hence was born the patented concentric display system that presents the measured seconds and the fractions of a second concentrically. According to the brand this is how it works – “The watch features two sweep chronograph hands, each of them driven by an independent mechanism. The hand that performs a complete revolution per minute shows the stopped seconds in the traditional manner. The other hand (lacquered red in the new Ref. 5470P001) performs one revolution per 12 seconds, i.e. five times faster than an ordinary chronograph hand and sweeps across 12 sectors subdivided into tenths.”
Additionally, as the frequency of the watch increases, so does the requirement of energy. This has been done with the help of reworking the single mainspring and reducing the diameter of the barrel arbour. The result is a comfortable 48-hour power reserve.
The new Caliber CH 29-535 PS 1/10 also features two patented mechanisms protect the watch from shocks. The first is an indispensable shock absorber hook that would secure the clutch rocker during the entire short-time measurement process. The second one uses the “unbalances” (centres of gravity, not to be confused with centres of rotation) of components of the mechanism for the tenths-of-a-second chronograph. Finally, the chronograph movement comes with a new monopusher architecture. The single pusher at 2 o’ clock activates the start, stop and reset commands.
All of these can be viewed via the sapphire crystal caseback which is interchangeable with the solid platinum back delivered with the watch.
Details of the Ref 5470P 1/10th Second Monopusher Chronograph
Offered in a resolutely sporty style, the 2022 Patek Philippe Ref 5470P 1/10th Second Monopusher Chronograph is available in a 41mm round case made from 950 platinum. This round case is inspired by the manually wound Ref. 5370 Split Seconds Chronograph launched in 2015. Like all of Patek Philippe’s platinum models, the Ref. 5470P-001 is adorned with a flawless brilliant-cut diamond between the lugs at 6 o’clock.
The elegant blue dial works beautifully against the reflection of the polished platinum case. It houses classic Breguet numerals and a pearl minute track that is set over a i-compax layout with small seconds. The chronograph seconds are indicated with a sandblasted and rhodiumed steel hand on a minute scale with small gold pearls. The tenths of a second are displayed with a slender hand in Silinvar®.
The new 5470P-001 is worn on a navy blue calfskin strap with an embossed fabric pattern and red decorative seams in perfect harmony with the colours of the dial.
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Image Courtesy: Patek Philippe
