This article was originally published in the May/June 2022 issue of WatchTime print magazine. Photos of Patek Philippe and archive.
With its classic round case, clean lines, a tidy dial and a striking Clous de Paris Bezel, the Calatrava is a flagship of the Geneva-based Patek Philippe Manufacturing. Since 2018, the collection has not featured a Calatrava with the famous guilloché finish, so the latest model puts this decorative pattern back in the spotlight. And this style icon also gets a modern hand-wound caliber with a long-lasting power reserve.
When the Stern family took over the management of Patek Philippe in 1932, the company was not yet heavily involved in the manufacture of wristwatches. But the Sterns saw where the future lay and understood that they had to bring the company’s pocket watch expertise to wristwatches. That same year, the now legendary Reference 96 was introduced, the first model from the manufacture to be given a reference number.
Based on the minimalist Bauhaus principle of form following function, the Reference 96 was interpreted in countless but always distinctive variants. It had flat or slightly rounded bezels, sometimes smoothly polished, set with precious stones or guilloched. There were extra-slim versions and officer’s cases with hinged backs. The dials, always simple and uncluttered, sometimes showed only hours and minutes, while a hand was added for the seconds, and occasionally there was also a date display.
According to Patek Philippe, the new reference 6119 pays homage to two models: the legendary reference 3919 from 1985, which was produced for more than two decades, and its 2006 reinterpretation as the reference 5119. The latter had a larger case, increasing in diameter from 33.5mm for the reference 3919 to 36mm for the reference 5119 and now to a contemporary 39mm for the reference 6119. “We wanted to make the Calatrava more masculine,” explained President Thierry Stern. He said they started with 40mm, but that was too big. One millimeter can make an astonishing difference.
Other design nuances are inspired by several other models. The applied, multifaceted, obelisk-like hour markers, including the double index at 12, take you back to the roots of the Calatrava design and refer to both the reference 96 from 1932 and the reference 96D from 1934. The triple-faceted, dauphine-shaped hour and minute hands are also reminiscent of the reference 96. And last but not least, the curved lugs, which have been abandoned and reintroduced several times, also take you back to the beginning. Following the example of the first Calatrava, the lugs create an ergonomically perfect transition from the case to the bracelet and ensure a high level of comfort. The white gold Calatrava 6119G-001 is attached to a shiny black alligator leather strap with a white gold pin buckle. The characteristic shape of the buckle was designed for the American market by former President Henri Stern, the grandfather of current President Thierry Stern.
But back to the dial. The dial of the white gold Calatrava comes in a trendy anthracite tone with vertical satin finish. The applied indexes and dauphine hands are made of white gold, the same material as the case. With their numerous facets, they play with the light, but also ensure sufficient contrast and excellent readability. On closer inspection, the fine coordination of the lines, angles and edges between the indexes and hands is noticeable.
A new detail is the railway minute track on the outermost edge of the dial. Twelve small hemispherical hour appliques are arranged along the scale to match. A small seconds hand in the form of a slender needle is located at 6. This slender hand moves over a circular sub-dial that is divided into four sections by a crosshair and marks the passing seconds with finely drawn index lines in 5-second increments. All of this is covered by a sapphire crystal in a so-called “box shape”, enclosed by the famous Clous de Paris bezel.
Clous de Paris is a special type of guilloche or embossing in which intersecting cuts create tiny pyramid shapes with a square base. Literally translated: Clous de Paris means “nails from Paris”. And indeed, the pyramid-shaped tips go back to nails that were once made in Paris, which is why Clous de Paris is also known as the “horseshoe nail” pattern. The tiny pyramids are carefully carved out of the solid metal by the manufacture’s craftsmen according to the rules of their art while they guide a motorized milling tool and then polish it. The guillocheur guides the burin horizontally with one hand while the other hand moves the tool vertically. The result is two concentric circles with a slightly beveled profile on which tiny pyramids line up, creating a sophisticated play of light that gives the dial more depth. The Calatrava bezel is one of the most famous examples of Clous de Paris Craftsmanship. This decoration is also produced by Audemars Piguet and Breguet, but to embellish the dials and not the bezels.
The Calatrava came onto the market in 1932 and received its Clous de Paris bezel in 1934. As the latest model since the introduction of the famous reference 3919 in 1985, this model is a prime example of Patek Philippe’s style-defining elegance.
For many years, Patek Philippe equipped the Calatrava with the hand-wound caliber 215 PS, with PS for small second (small seconds). The development of the new hand-wound caliber 30-255 PS (also with small seconds) for the reference 6119 was based on the desire for a movement with a larger diameter that could be housed in a particularly slim case. This movement is considered a milestone for Patek Philippe and expands the extensive collection of Manufacturing Caliber.
The caliber 30-255 PS has a total diameter of 31 mm, while the caliber 215 PS measures 21.9 mm. The overall height remains unchanged at 2.55 mm, as the name suggests. In order to maintain this low overall height and at the same time meet modern functional requirements such as a power reserve of 65 hours or a stop-second function, new design solutions had to be found. For example, there is power transmission via a central pinion that meshes with the minute wheel via an intermediate wheel, a stop-second spring that generates the impulse, and a winding mechanism that is designed in such a way that the ratchet and crown wheels are not above, but below, the barrel bridge.
The central pinion and intermediate wheel ensure that the two barrels connected in parallel can transmit their energy to the gear train at the same time. Parallel connection is a rarely used design. In contrast to barrels connected in series, parallel connection increases the torque of the movement because the power of each barrel is combined with that of its counterpart. This solution achieves maximum performance while allowing a slim design and the use of a balance with a very high moment of inertia (10 mg per cm2). In physics, the moment of inertia describes how inert a rotating body is to changes in its state of motion. The 30-255 PS caliber has the highest moment of inertia of all Patek Philippe 4 Hz movements. It guarantees high rate stability and enables the movement to be finely adjusted using four weights on the edge of the Gyromax balance. The frequency of 28,000 semi-oscillations per hour also pursues the same goals. With a maximum daily deviation of -3 to +2, the Caliber 30-255 PS meets the extremely strict accuracy requirements of the Patek Philippe quality seal. To meet these strict criteria, it is equipped with, among other things, the long-awaited stop-seconds mechanism, in which an extended spring stops the balance when the crown is pulled out, allowing the user to set the time to the second. When the crown is pushed back in, the mechanism gives the inertia balance a slight impulse, setting it in motion again.
When designing the architecture of the new movement, care was taken to respect time-honoured traditions, depending on which wheel or function gets its own bridge. Therefore, a look through the sapphire crystal in the caseback reveals that the Calibre 30-255 PS has six beautifully shaped bridges and cocks, all crafted in the finest watchmaking tradition. The decorations include Geneva stripes, mother of pearl and satin finishes, as well as bevelled edges and polished screws. The attractive aesthetics should not obscure the fact that the 30-255 PS caliber is both exceptionally robust and absolutely state-of-the-art thanks to its design and technical solutions, with a stop-seconds mechanism and a power reserve of almost three days.
Although the Calatrava tradition goes back to the reference 96 from 1932, the name itself has only been used to describe this family of simple, elegant watches from Patek Philippe since 1982. For many watch connoisseurs, the reference 3919 launched in 1985 with the hand-wound caliber 215 PS is the quintessence of the Calatrava and the epitome of a simple but elegant wristwatch.
For Patek Philippe, Calatrava’s history goes back much further. Almost a century earlier, on April 27, 1887, the Geneva-based Manufacturing The Calatrava Cross has been officially registered as a legally protected trademark. The aesthetically sophisticated symbol of a Spanish knightly order from the late 12th century remains untouched by all fashion trends as a trademark of Patek Philippe to this day.
Patek Philippe Calatrava Technical Data:
Manufacturer: Patek Philippe SA Geneve, Chemin du Pont-du-Centenaire 141, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland
Reference number: 6119G-001
Features: Hours, minutes, small seconds
Movement: Caliber 30-255 PS, hand-wound, 28,800 vibrations per hour, 27 jewels, Spiromax hairspring (made of Silinvar), Gyromax balance, regulating weights on the balance wheel for fine adjustment, Incabloc shock protection, 65-hour power reserve, diameter = 31.0 mm, height = 2.55 mm
Case: 18 carat white gold, box-shaped sapphire crystal above the dial, sapphire crystal on the back, water resistant to 30 m
Strap and clasp: Black alligator leather strap with white gold pin buckle
Dimensions: Diameter = 39.0 mm, height = 8.08 mm, lug width = 21.0
Variations: In rose gold (Ref. 6119R-001, $30,750)
Price: $30,750
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