Patek Philippe does not usually chase performance as such. Lining up numbers and speeds are not the company’s style. It was thus all the more surprising when the brand revealed its Reference 5470P, the brand’s first chronograph operating at 36,000 vibrations per hour. Behind appearances, this unveiling actually involves something quite different: a determination to maintain the highest level of mechanical innovation at one of the watch industry’s most powerful technical offices, thanks to a project that pushes every existing limit – except that of frequency, since 5 Hz is no longer a feat in itself. Caliber 5470P is therefore a vehicle for innovations, seven of which are the subject of new patents. They concern the chronograph function, its power reserve, its reliability and a new mode of reading tenths of a second, the only real justification for the transition to 5 Hz. Two seconds hands share the center: one measures the seconds and makes one full sweep per minute. The other turns once every 12 seconds and enables accurate and clear tenth of-a-second readings on a railway-track scale. The dial is housed in a moderately sized platinum case despite a very complex caliber comprising 84 more components than the base movement on which it was built.
1/10th of a second monopusher chronograph Reference 5470P
Case: 950 platinum, transparent sapphire crystal and caseback, water-resistant to 30m (3 bar)
Size: 41mm, 13.68mm thick
Movement: mechanical, manually wound Caliber CH 29-535 PS 1/10, 5 Hz, 48h power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes, small seconds, single push-button chronograph with central tenth-of-a-second display
Dial: galvanic blue, white gold hour-markers, white gold leaf-shaped hands, lacquered silicon tenth-of-a-second hand
Strap: blue calf leather with embossed fabric pattern, platinum folding clasp
Price: on request
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