Patek Philippe

Since as early as the 11th century, watchmakers have been creating complications which keep track of the stars and planets observable in the night sky. These astronomical complications have very little practical use today, compared to other complications such as calendars or chronographs, but they are beautiful to behold and complicated to craft, hence they are sometimes referred to as romantic complications. Due to the nature of the displayed information, watches that feature astronomical complications often look extremely distinctive and completely different to conventional wristwatches. So when Patek Philippe, a brand that prides itself on its dogmatic and conservative approach to watchmaking and styling released the reference 5102 Celestial, an enormous double-crown wristwatch with an entirely blue dial, it became an instant classic. 

Produced between 2002 and 2008, the watch’s dial is entirely dedicated to displaying the configuration of the night skies above the northern hemisphere, but what does not immediately meet the eye is how difficult this is. Three rotating sapphire discs display a sky chart, the time of meridian passage of Sirius, the brightest star, and of the moon while the blue coloured base of the dial containing a moonphase display also rotates to correctly display the orbital position of the moon in the same night sky as the sky chart. This level of complication is completely unprecedented especially for a wristwatch, and the reference 5102 remains one of the most complicated wrist watches produced in the 21st century by Patek Philippe.

Thanks to the large yet ergonomic design of the watch, the reference 5102 displays all of the information on an entirely elegant and clean dial while also wearing well on a wide range of wrist sizes. The present yellow gold case matches perfectly with the stars depicted on the dial, while contrasting beautifully with the huge blue dial. Equally eye-catching is the Geneva seal micro rotor movement visible through the sapphire caseback, engineered and crafted especially for this reference. Reference 5102 marks one of the most distinctive and important references of 21st century Patek Philippe, and any enthusiast will appreciate the history and complication inherent in this piece of horological artwork.