Most Complicated Wristwatches Ever Made / Part 3

The most complicated wristwatch ever created by Patek Philippe is the Sky Moon Tourbillion reference 5002. Like Vacheron’s Tour de L'Ile it too is a double sided watch, the first of its kind for Patek Philippe. It was released by Patek in early 2001, shortly after the unveiling the Star Caliber 2000, rising to the challenge of producing such a masterpiece in wristwatch form.  

These watches are extremely rare and sell for well over a million dollars. In 2007 Antiquorum sold a rose gold Sky Moon Tourbillion at auction for $1,240,400. The extreme difficulty of producing such a complicated watch had limited production to just 2 a year, one platinum and one rose gold. Recently production has been changed to include a white gold (5002G), and a yellow gold (5002J) model.  

The 42.8mm case houses 686 parts working together to create 12 separate complications. On the fist side the dial contains a perpetual calendar with the leap year cycle at 12 o’clock, month at 3 o’clock, day at 9 o’clock and a retrograde center date hand. The phase of the moon is shown at 6 o’clock, and center hands show the hour and minute. The minute repeater chimes with two cathedral gongs. There is also a hidden tourbillion. The crown at 4 o’clock is for the setting of time and winding.

On the reverse side a beautiful blue dial displays a skychart and the phase and orbit of the moon. Sidereal time is shown with center hour and minute hands. A crown at 8 o’clock sets the 24 hour scale as well as the sky/moon indications.

Unlike many other watches that reach this level of complication, Patek Philippe is still producing a very limited amount of the 5002’s each year. At such a steep price it is a lucky few that are able to call one of these masterpiece their own.