Patek Philippe Unveils Seven Watches for Milan, From a Steel Aquanaut to an $874,200 Enamel Map

Every few years, Patek Philippe packs up a piece of Geneva and sends it somewhere new. Since 2012, its “Watch Art” Grand Exhibitions have traveled from Dubai to Munich, London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo. On October 2, the seventh edition opens in Milan, inside the historic CityOval, formerly the Palazzo delle Scintille, in the CityLife district. Admission is free, and the show runs through October 18.

As with every edition, Milan comes with watches of its own. The Manufacture says it is paying tribute to host country Italy by unveiling seven limited-edition timepieces,” each fitted with a sapphire crystal caseback bearing the inscription “Patek Philippe Milano 2026.” Tokyo got six in 2023. This time the set runs from a steel Aquanaut to a pair of enamel-dialed minute repeaters made in five pieces each, with three Calatrava-cased watches in green, white and red in between.

The headliner is a new reference that collectors will be dissecting long after the CityOval empties out: the Ref. 5978P-010, a platinum chronograph with an instantaneous perpetual calendar. Our complete visitors guide to the Milan exhibition covers registration, rooms and opening hours. The watches deserve a closer look of their own.

The 5978P

On paper, the idea sounds almost too obvious to be new. According to Patek Philippe, the Manufacture is “combining for the first time its manually wound chronograph movement with an instantaneous perpetual calendar.” That pairing called for a new caliber, the CH 29-535 PS QI, which is assembled from 500 components.

Instantaneous is the operative word, and it applies to both halves of the watch. The calendar indications change at once rather than gradually, and the chronograph’s 30-minute counter is instantaneous too. In Patek’s words, the caliber’s “energy-management mechanisms enable the precise and simultaneous synchronization of all displays.”

That mechanical choice reshapes the face. The day, date, month, leap year and day/night indications all sit in apertures, and the calendar is in Italian, transfer-printed in blue and arranged along an arc within applied white gold frames. The sunburst navy blue dial has a black-gradient rim and a textured center, with white gold faceted baton hour markers and dauphine hands, both carrying a white luminescent coating. Red varnished chronograph hands, moon phases and small seconds complete the picture.

The 42mm case is fully polished platinum, with a concave bezel, scalloped lugs and a single diamond set at 6 o’clock. It measures 14.24mm thick, is water-resistant to 30 meters and closes with a sapphire crystal caseback carrying the transfer-printed “Patek Philippe Milano 2026” inscription.

The sporty touches are deliberate. Patek fits a navy blue composite strap with a fabric pattern and contrasting red stitching, adds a stopping point in the colors of the Italian flag, and secures it all with a platinum patented triple-blade fold-over clasp. The brand itself calls the 5978P a sporty look timepiece,” which is not a phrase one expects to read about a platinum perpetual calendar chronograph.

Turn it over and the CH 29-535 PS QI is on full display. The hand-wound movement measures 32mm across and 8.1mm thick, uses 42 jewels and a Breguet balance spring, and beats at 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour (4 Hz). With the chronograph disengaged, the power reserve runs from 55 to 65 hours, and the movement bears the Patek Philippe Seal.

The Ref. 5978P-010 is limited to 120 pieces and listed at $337,585 on patek.com. In our view, it is the most significant watch of the seven. Manual winding leaves the whole chronograph on view through the caseback with no rotor in the way, and the navy-and-red palette lets one of the most serious complications in the catalog loosen its tie a little. With only 120 to go around, we suspect this is the watch that will be remembered as Milan’s.

The Other Milan Editions

If the 5978P is the technical headline, the two World Time minute repeaters are the artistic one. The Ref. 5531G-012 and Ref. 5531G-013, five pieces each, set grand feu cloisonné enamel maps of central Milan at the heart of the dial, by day on the 012 and by night on the 013. The city names around the World Time ring are written in Italian, with Milan picked out in red.

Both run on the self-winding R 27 HU caliber, whose patented striking mechanism chimes local time for the time zone displayed at 12 o’clock, on classic gongs attached directly to the caseband. The 40.2mm white gold case is hand-guilloched with a hobnail pattern on the caseband and slide-piece, has skeletonized lugs and measures 11.49mm thick. Each watch comes with interchangeable solid and sapphire crystal casebacks. The day version wears a light brown grained calfskin strap, the night version a dark blue one, and each is listed at $874,200.

Next comes the most overtly Italian idea of the lot. Three 38mm white gold Calatrava cases each wear a lacquered dial with a carbon-patterned center in one color of the national flag, along with an alligator strap whose stopping point repeats the tricolore. Patek says the carbon center evokes “the bodywork of the finest automobiles, a reference that needs little explanation in Italy.

The Ref. 7007G-010 is the white stripe and the simplest of the three. Its self-winding 26-330 S C caliber shows the date at 3 oclock and sweep seconds, with charcoal gray white gold numerals and hands set against white lacquer in a case 8.81mm thick. It is limited to 200 pieces at $47,512.

In green, the Ref. 7147G-010 is a perpetual calendar powered by the self-winding 240 Q, with its 22K gold off-center mini-rotor. Hands show the day, date, month, leap year and 24-hour indication, the moon phase sits at 6 oclock, and the calendar is once again in Italian. The case is 9.72mm thick, and 100 pieces will be made at $137,535.

Red goes to the rarest of the trio, the Ref. 7047G-010 minute repeater. Its self-winding R 27 PS caliber chimes on two classic gongs and adds small seconds. The case is 10.24mm thick and, like the 5531G, is protected against humidity and dust rather than water-resistant. Only five pieces will be made, at $707,074.

Then there is the Aquanaut. Patek presents the Ref. 5167A-014 as “the emblem of sporty-chic style dressed in blue: a 40.8mm steel case with an octagonal bezel, a sunburst blue dial with a black-gradient rim and the collection’s embossed pattern, red accents on the minute track and seconds hand, and a midnight blue composite strap. Inside is the same self-winding 26-330 S C as the 7007G, visible through the inscribed caseback. At 250 pieces it is the largest run of the seven, priced at $43,761.

The watches are only part of the draw. Inside the CityOval, Patek Philippe has laid out rooms devoted to its current collection, the Patek Philippe Museum, its manufacture and movements, and its “Master of Sound” chiming watches, along with a Rare Handcrafts room where artisans demonstrate their techniques. The Manufacture is also unveiling a collection of Rare Handcrafts pieces “reflecting themes inspired by Italian culture, which, in our view, is reason enough to linger in that room.

The exhibition runs at the CityOval, Piazza Sei Febbraio, through October 18. It is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, closing at 8 p.m. on the final day, with last entry one hour before closing. Admission is free, and reservations are recommended.

Seven watches and 685 pieces in all, from a $43,761 steel Aquanaut to an $874,200 enamel map of the city. The 5978P carries the technical weight, but the set as a whole makes a broader point: a Grand Exhibition edition should feel as if it could only have come from the place that inspired it. In Milan, we think Patek Philippe has managed exactly that.

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Adrienne Faurote

Editor in Chief · Haute Time

As a former New Yorker, now a “Miamian,” Adrienne Faurote joined Haute Living in August of 2021. She currently serves as the Haute Media Group Editor-in-Chief, overseeing all editorial platforms within the Haute Media Group while also maintaining her role as Fashion, Jewelry & Watch Director. Prior to her position at Haute Living, Faurote was the Market Editor at Marie Claire Magazine US, amassing over ten years in the industry, becoming an authoritative voice in all things fashion, jewelry, and watches.