Patek Philippe Launch Their First 1/10th of a Second Chronograph Wristwatch

Patek Philippe offered a strong showing at Watches & Wonders this year (including their new textured grey dials), but their raft of new releases doesn’t stop there. Every year the prestige watchmaker throws in a grand complication to the mix, something they’ve never executed before. It’s always impeccable, usually surprising and this year comes in the form of the 5470P 1/10th Second Monopusher Chronograph.

Zenith might be the first name to spring to mind with this type of chronograph; they’re one of the few watchmakers that’s been keeping the complication alive in recent years, to deserved applause. But Patek Philippe have been doing 1/10^th chronographs since the early 30s and given the new grand complication houses 31 patents, seven of which are unique to the 5470P, this is very much Patek’s own baby.

Pocket watch experience aside, this is Patek’s first ever wrist-mounted 1/10th Second chronograph, though not all aspects of the movement are new. The base calibre is the CH 29-535 PS, which is well over a decade old these days. The manually-wound, column-wheel chronograph is the base for most Patek Philippe chronographs, complicated or not, and has been re-thought and rejigged to allow the new complication. The most important part of that is that the frequency has been upped to 5 Hz to allow the more precise measurement.

Now, if you were to say that the new piece looks like a classic, 60-second chronograph, you’d be spot on. Most of it is. The silver central hand works like any sweeping chronograph, one revolution of the dial per minute, with running seconds at 9 o’clock and minutes at 3 o’clock. The major difference here is the inclusion of the red lacquered hand.

This hand runs around the dial once every 12 seconds. With each second segment divided into 10 as per usual, this is what gives you your 1/10^th second measurement.

It’s an inspired solution. Rather than cramming a 1/10^th second scale onto a dial and ruining how you would traditionally read it, Patek Philippe has adapted the complication to their classic layout. Just stop the chronograph and you can read the precise 1/10^th of a second intuitively and accurately. Like the In-Line Perpetual Calendar before it, the release turns a complicated mechanism into something incredibly simple to read.

The downside to high frequency movements is their energy consumption, especially when paired with a fast-moving hand like this. Despite that, Patek has managed to eke out a 48-hour power reserve by playing around with the mainspring.

Looks-wise, the 5470P 1/10th Second is stunning, that sweet spot between classically Swiss haute horology and something a little sportier. The combination of dark blue with red highlights and platinum Breguet numerals is peak Patek, with an alternative pearl minute track and that incredibly slim red lacquered 1/10^th Second chronograph hand.

That’s all housed in a 41mm platinum case (you can tell from the diamond embedded between the lugs at 6 o’clock) and finished on a contrast stitched, fabric-embossed calfskin strap. Price has yet to be announced but it’s not exactly going to be cheap – though it is part of the permanent collection, and this is one that I’d very much hope to see in the wild once they start rolling out of the manufacture.