Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002

From pocket-watch giants to a wristwatch with two faces

Patek Philippe's habit of building one enormous watch every generation runs through the Henry Graves Supercomplication, delivered in 1933 with 24 functions, and the Calibre 89, presented for the company's 150th anniversary in 1989. The Calibre 89 had 1,278 parts and 33 functions; five years of development produced a total of four watches. At the turn of the millennium came another pocket watch, the Star Caliber 2000, with 21 functions. All of them were pocket watches.

The wristwatch spin-off of the Star Caliber was the ref. 5002 Sky Moon Tourbillon, launched in platinum for the 2001 model year (one account says 2000). It had 12 complications on two dials and, at its launch, was described as the most complicated wristwatch in the world. It was the maker's first double-faced wristwatch, a deliberate echo of the two-sided pocket watches made for Henry Graves Jr. and James Ward Packard.

The 5002 measured 42.8 mm and was girdled with a machine-applied band of Calatrava crosses. It ran until 2012, in platinum and later in rose, yellow and, rarely, white gold. It reportedly retailed for about CHF 1.2 million. How many were made has never been published: one account puts likely production between 100 and 120 against a theoretical capacity of ten a year, while another said only one or two were made each year. The sources disagree, and the maker has not settled it.

2013: more is more

In May 2013 Patek Philippe unveiled the ref. 6002G, a facelift of its most complicated watch. One critic wrote that it belonged to 'the much-more-is-much-better school of watch design.' Where the 5002's case band had machined decoration, the 6002's case was relief-engraved by hand all over, front, back, sides and even the hands, with floral volutes and arabesques of the kind found on high-end hunting rifles.

The dial changed too. Its center is cloisonné enamel, with fine gold wires forming leaves that are filled with enamel; the outer zone is champlevé, with the solid gold dial plate engraved into recesses that are filled with deep blue enamel so only the minute track and window frames stand proud. Mechanically, the 6002 is essentially the 5002, but it shows the moon phase rather than the age of the moon and gives day, month and leap year in windows instead of on sub-dials with hands.

Sources disagree on size. The first report of the 6002G gave a diameter of 42.3 mm; the maker's current specifications for the 6002 give 44 mm across and 17.35 mm thick. Each watch is delivered with a pair of matching engraved cufflinks, and even the folding clasp is engraved.

Three movements stacked into one

The caliber R TO 27 QR SID LU CL is built in layers. Its base is the R TO 27, a hand-wound tourbillon minute repeater launched in 1993. On the front sits the retrograde perpetual calendar module used across the maker's retrograde perpetual calendars; on the back sits the sky chart module from the Celestial watches. The result is 705 parts and 55 jewels in a movement 38 mm wide and 12.61 mm thick, beating at 3 Hz with a power reserve of 38 to 48 hours.

The repeater strikes on 'cathedral' gongs, which wind around the movement longer than an ordinary gong to give a richer, more sustained sound. The Sky Moon was the watch that introduced these gongs to Patek Philippe's wristwatches, and the size of the gongs is what sets the 38 mm movement diameter.

The back is a working map of the heavens: a blue disc carrying the moon and, above it, a clear sapphire disc printed with stars, turning at different speeds to show the sky over Geneva, with sidereal time, the angular motion of the moon and the times of the meridian passage of Sirius and the moon. The tourbillon that gives the watch half its name is buried inside and cannot be seen from either side.

The record-setting 6002G and its forerunners at auction

The most famous single 6002 was bought new in 2015 at the maker's salon in Geneva. In March 2023 it was offered in an online-only sale in Hong Kong and sold for HK$45,450,000, or US$5,815,300, to an internet bidder. It was reported as the most expensive watch ever sold in an online auction. Reports of the sale date vary between March 20 and March 25, 2023, reflecting when the sale closed and when it was reported.

In December 2021 an unworn white gold 6002G from 2016, with its full original set, was offered at auction in Hong Kong; the auctioneer's head of watches for Asia called it 'the best example of this legendary model to be offered at auction.' The released material did not state a result.

Its predecessor set records of its own. A rose gold 5002 sold for $1,240,400 at auction in New York, reported in June 2007 as a record for a wristwatch at auction in the United States (the lot description in the same report notes that the watch was first sold on November 10, 2003). In December 2023 a platinum 5002P-001 sold in New York for $1,562,500 against an estimate of $1.2 million to $2.1 million.

No longer the most complicated, still the most ornate

The Sky Moon was long Patek Philippe's most complicated wristwatch, until the Grandmaster Chime arrived in 2014 and later the Grande Sonnerie ref. 6301. The maker now describes the 6002 as the second most complicated timepiece in its current collection.

It remains the most ornately decorated of its peers. In June 2021, at the opening of its Rare Handcrafts exhibition in Geneva, Patek Philippe added the 6002R in rose gold with brown enamel. The watch is sold on request with no published price, and it is not a limited edition.

To identify one, look for the double-faced case with engraving on the lugs, crowns and the repeater slide in the case band, an enamel front dial with applied Roman numerals and calendar windows, and a star chart under sapphire on the back. A 5002, by contrast, has a crème dial with guilloché Calatrava crosses and calendar hands on sub-dials.

The numbers

Reference

6002G-001 (white gold, blue enamel); 6002R-001 (rose gold, brown enamel); predecessor ref. 5002, 2001-2012

Caliber

R TO 27 QR SID LU CL, hand-wound, 38 mm by 12.61 mm, 705 parts, 55 jewels, 3 Hz, 38-48 hours, Patek Philippe Seal

Case

44 mm by 17.35 mm, hand-engraved 18K gold, sapphire crystal case back, not water resistant (first reports of the 6002G gave 42.3 mm)

Production

From 2013; numbers never published. The 5002 was reported at one or two a year by one source and an estimated 100-120 in total by another

Timeline

1. 1933

   The Henry Graves Supercomplication, with 24 functions, is delivered, an ancestor of the double-faced Patek complications.

2. 1989

   The Calibre 89 pocket watch, with 33 functions and 1,278 parts, is presented for the maker's 150th anniversary.

3. 1993

   The R TO 27 tourbillon minute repeater movement, later the base of the Sky Moon caliber, is launched.

4. 2000

   The Star Caliber 2000 pocket watch, with 21 functions, appears; the Sky Moon is its wristwatch spin-off.

5. 2001

   The ref. 5002P Sky Moon Tourbillon is launched in platinum with 12 complications and the first cathedral gongs in a Patek wristwatch.

6. Jun 2007

   A rose gold 5002 sells for $1,240,400 at auction in New York, reported as a U.S. auction record for a wristwatch.

7. 2009

   Around July, Sky Moon movements begin carrying the Patek Philippe Seal instead of the Geneva hallmark.

8. 2012

   Production of the ref. 5002 ends.

9. May 2013

   The ref. 6002G is unveiled, with a hand-engraved white gold case and blue cloisonné and champlevé enamel dial.

10. 2014

    The Grandmaster Chime arrives and takes over as the maker's most complicated wristwatch.

11. 2015

    The future record-holding 6002G-001 is bought new at the maker's Geneva salon.

12. Jun 2021

    The rose gold 6002R with brown enamel is unveiled at the Rare Handcrafts exhibition in Geneva.

13. Dec 1, 2021

    An unworn 2016 white gold 6002G with full set is offered at auction in Hong Kong.

14. Mar 2023

    A 6002G-001 sells for HK$45,450,000 (US$5,815,300) online in Hong Kong, the most ever paid for a watch in an online auction.

15. Dec 5, 2023

    A platinum 5002P-001 sells for $1,562,500 at auction in New York.

The world in 2013

• Feb 15, 2013

  A meteor explodes over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring about 1,500 people and damaging more than 4,300 buildings.

• Mar 13, 2013

  Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected pope and takes the name Francis.

• Apr 15, 2013

  Two bombs explode at the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and injuring 264.

• Apr 24, 2013

  The Rana Plaza building collapses in Savar, Bangladesh, killing 1,134 people.

• Jun 6, 2013

  Edward Snowden's disclosures about U.S. government mass surveillance begin to be published.

• Nov 8, 2013

  Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, strikes the Philippines.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002 is number 4 of 100 in the watches entries of the FLOAT 100. 54 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (37 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Sky Moon's two faces are not reversible: only the front is meant to face out on the wrist, and the downturned lugs make flipping it impractical.
• The star chart on the back shows the sky over Geneva and turns once a year through an elliptical window synchronized with the perpetual calendar.
• The tourbillon named in the title is hidden inside the movement and cannot be seen from either side of the watch.
• Every 6002 comes with a pair of matching engraved cufflinks.
• On the 5002, one crown sets the front dial and a second crown sets the celestial display on the back.
• One account says the gear ratios for the sky display were chosen from some 25 trillion possible combinations, leaving a sidereal-day error of 33.9 seconds per century.