Verbier, Zermatt, Adelboden, Arosa, Engelberg, Gstaad, St. Moritz – the resorts and alpine motifs adorning the 230-millimetre-high dome clock 20191M-001 from Patek Philippe evoke skiing dreams for anyone familiar with the Swiss Alps. This clock is filled with nostalgia as its inspiration is taken from posters with designs from the golden days of early mountain tourism – and the details are stunning. Just look at the huskies drawing a sledge, the fantastic skiing fashion of yesteryear including felt hats and wasp waists, and the somewhat chaotic pose of a skier taking flight – far from today’s Red Bull-infused athletes bringing exact acrobatics up onto the mountains. But this clock is so much more than nostalgia – it is also an amazing ode to how Patek’s contemporary artisans keep developing their crafts in the 21st century.
The artisanal technique used on this clock is Grand Feu cloisonné enamel and miniature painting. Cloisonné was originally developed in jewellery and was first used in places like Mesopotamia and Egypt – probably already around the third millennium BC. The earliest surviving undisputed objects using the technique is a group of rings from a tomb in Cyprus that are dated to around the 12th century BC, according to several jewellery scholars.
In Geneva 2025, Patek Philippe’s artisan used 16.07 metres of gold wire to create the different outlines in the motifs on the 20191M-001. For instance, you can trace the wire around the skiers and the brilliant typography. After the artisan painstakingly created the different outlines and cells of the motifs, these sectors were filled with 45 different translucent, semi-translucent or opaque enamel colours to create the cool-blue alpine landscapes and the rocky mountains. In the end another seven colours were used for micro-painting in order to highlight small details.
The clock was built up of different panels with the enamelled motifs, and each of them were fired 12 times at 770°C. This is the only way to achieve such a result, which has an incredible depth and a lustrous sheen – not unlike the glacial ice to be found in these mountains.
The peripheral part of the dial is golden whereas the centre is made of genuine leather – if you’ve ever sat down in a leather chair in front of a fire in a cosy chalet you will understand the inspiration. The hour and minute hands are – of course – made in the shape of skis, and their navy blue-lacquered tips harmonise with the blue Arabic numerals applied on a striated sunburst pattern.
The clock runs – as do all 23 contemporary dome clocks with different motifs presented this spring by Patek Philippe – on the cal. 17´´´PEND movement – a large 2.5 Hz pocket watch movement, which is automatically rewound with an electric motor powered by a battery.
So, while we wait for a bit more snow to cover the mountains, this clock makes us dream of powder days and cosy lodgings.
