Introducing Patek Philippe’s Newest Creation Pays Homage to Its Former President, Philippe Stern

In celebration of Philippe Stern's 85th birthday, a man of great importance to both the brand and the Swiss watch industry, who served as the president of the manufacture from 1993 to 2009 and is the current honorary president, his son Thierry Stern, now serving as the president of Patek Philippe, decided to honor his father by creating a special edition. The "1938P" reference, named after Philippe Stern's birth year, features a unique timepiece with an entirely new movement crafted exclusively for this limited edition of 30 pieces. The watch houses a minute repeater, his father’s favorite complication as well as another acoustic function, the alarm. 

Measuring 41mm in diameter and 14.2mm in height, the platinum case is hand-polished throughout. With its straight lugs and screwed-in strap bars, the case also pays homage to one of Philippe Stern's beloved creations, the Officer's style, dating back to 1989. This style was introduced on the occasion of the manufacturer's 150th anniversary, featuring the classic Patek Philippe big crown at 3 o'clock The alarm function is also easy to use thanks to a push-piece integrated into the crown serves to select the chiming mode, and the minute repeater trigger on the left side of the case. and for decoration this piece of art a brilliant-cut diamond 0.02 carat set between the lugs at 6 o’clock

The case is also endowed with a sapphire crystal back protected by a hinged dust cover bearing the hand-engraved inscription “A mon père, 85 ans de passion horlogère” (To my father, 85 years of watchmaking passion).

The dial of the newest Patek Philippe is perhaps the most polarizing aspect of this watch, featuring an 18k gold base covered in Grand Feu black enamel. Applied Breguet numerals and hands in white gold indicate the hours and minutes, while rose gold is used for the 12-hour alarm hand. At 6 o'clock, there is a subdial for small seconds. The left side of the dial is adorned with a portrait of Philippe Stern in white and grey miniature painting on enamel. A small bell-shaped aperture at 3 o'clock appears in three colors: a black bell during minute repeater mode, a red bell in alarm mode, and a white bell when the alarm has been actuated but has not yet sounded. The entire dial is surrounded by a railtrack road minute scale printed in white and Rose-gilt powdered quarter-hour scale for the alarm time.

Powering the Minute Repeater 1938P is the new self-winding Caliber R AL 27 PS. This movement, designed and produced exclusively for this tribute watch, will never be used again. Actually, it shares its base architecture with other automatic minute repeaters of the brand. It combines a minute repeater and an alarm chiming on the same two classic gongs. The combination of these two functions represented a real technical challenge.

The timepiece necessitated four novel patents and 227 extra components, summing up to 561 parts. These include a escapement and column wheel for choosing the chiming mode, as well as a fuse device equipped with a strike-work detent mechanism. This mechanism temporarily severs the power supply (the strike-work barrel drum) from the striking mechanism. These four patents encompass the following functionalities: secure toggling between chiming modes postponing the alarm strike until the optimal moment; ensuring, in every instance, the accurate strike sequence of "hours, quarters, and minutes.

The alarm is set with the crown pulled out to the middle position, where the hand will point to a time on the dial as if it's a 12-hour indicator and will only set in 15-minute increments, pointing to a scale in rose gold on the edge of the dial. To allow the maximum number of chimes to be heard, the alarm of Reference 1938P-001 always strikes two minutes before the programmed time, so that the wearer will get the full effect of the chime of the repeater instead of just the shorter gong sequence for only hours.

The sapphire crystal provides a fine view of the particularly painstaking finish lavished on this exclusive movement. The chamfered edges of the bridges and hammers are gilded. The 22K yellow-gold mini-rotor is rhodium plated with yellow-gold edges and adorned with a black-lacquered hand engraving reproducing Philippe Stern’s signature.

Each timepiece from this exclusive series in 30 piece comes with an alligator leather strap in shiny black with a platinum fold-over clasp. This piece of art is priced at CHF 890,000 which is equivalent to 3,620,000 AED.

For more information please visit the official website of Patek Philippe.