Patek Philippe Ref. 7000 Ladies’ Minute Repeater

Minute repeaters have long been amongst the most desirable of complications. There is something special not only about listening to the resonant sounds of these miniature gongs and the technical feats in achieving this, but the sheer unadulterated fun in activating the mechanism and listening to the hours, quarter hours and minutes striking.

Patek Philippe’s new Ref. 7000 is their first women’s minute repeater wristwatch, and thank goodness it is a simple elegant piece, unadorned by unnecessary stones.

This stylish 18k watch consists of 342 parts encased within a 33.7mm rose gold Officer’s style case, a case design for which Patek is particularly well-known, and which they have often called the ‘Directoire’ case.

Rose gold is also used for the applied Breguet numerals, minute pearls and the hands.

The Ref. 7000 has a sapphire-crystal case back that reveals the ultra-thin self-winding calibre R 27 PS (a mere 5.05mm thick) with Geneva striping, manually chamfered bridges, guilloched gold rotor, and the gold plated Calatrava cross. The cream colouring of the dial gives the watch a softer hue, and to my mind, makes sense only with the colour of the strap that the watch comes with.

A single master watchmaker is responsible for the assembly, adjustment, and completion of each Patek minute repeater. After that comes the last step in the creation of a Patek minute repeater, a step well-known to watch enthusiasts. After the completed watch has been subjected to a series of tests, it heads to the offices of presidents Thierry and Philippe Stern, who personally assess the acoustics of each minute repeater before it is delivered.

This year Patek Philippe came out with a lot of high complications for women, a rare happening indeed. Here we discuss the Double Split 7059R.

SPECIFICATIONS

Movement : Mechanical self-winding, Caliber R 27 PS.
Jewels : 39.
Balance : Gyromax
Complication : Minute repeater. Chime with two gongs activated by a slide piece in the case.
Vibrations per hour : 21, 600
Power Reserve : 48hrs
Dial : Seconds subdial. Grained cream-colored dial with gold applied numerals
Strap: alligator with square scales, hand-stitched, matt pearly beige.
Case : 33.7mm. Rose gold. Humidity and dust protected, not water resistant. Interchangeable full back and sapphire-crystal case back.

As we’ve mentioned before, women have become both active and knowledgeable watch buyers who aren’t just interested in quartz pieces, or watches whose dominant feature seems to be that it is covered with precious stones to varying degrees.  This minute repeater is testament to Patek’s recognition of this, and a welcome addition it is.

Otherwise known online as ‘aptronym,’ Y.Chan’s first watch was a gift from her grandmother when she was 8 – a blue dialled quartz stainless steel Citizen on a bracelet. A member of various watch fora, and an Australian Paneristi, when not writing for The Watch Lady she can be found blogging about watches and food at The Sydney Tarts.