One of the most complicated wristwatches of all time is manufactured by the house that Polish salesman Antoni Norbet Patek and French watchmaker Adrien Philippe built in the mid 1800s. Since joining forces, the partners have pioneered and patented all that makes up a complicated wristwatch, including but not limited to a Self-winding mechanism; Precision regulator; Perpetual calendar mechanism; Split-seconds chronograph; minute repeating mechanism; Time-zone watches; Annual Calendar. Inspired by the Star Caliber 2000, a double-sided pocket watch with 21 complications to mark the millenium, Patek Philippe released the double-faced Sky Moon Tourbillon two years later. The first wristwatch of it’s kind The Sky Moon Tourbillon features a complete presentation of the nocturnal sky on its back side including phase and orbit of the Moon. The perpetual calendar on the front side has a date display with an automatic flyback hand, the leap year cycle at 12 o’clock, month at 3 o’clock, moon age at 6 o’clock, and days of the week at 9 o’clock, none of which require correction until the year 2100. Equally beautiful as it is functional, the case comes in 18K gold or platinum worn with a hand-stitched crocodile leather strap.
Now before you call your Accountants, keep in mind that due to its complexity and man hours required to build, only two are made annually. But just in case you’re lucky enough to have a shot at one, budget a figure in the neighborhood of $1,700,000.00 and be sure to leave enough left over for 24 hours of armed security to guard this baby. It really demands that much attention.
