Reference 5207
Caliber R TO 27 PS QI

Wristwatch with minute repeater. Tourbillon.
Instantaneous perpetual calendar with aperture displays. Manually wound.
White gold.

With an extraordinarily large number of parts,557, to be precise, this timepiece ranks among
Patek Philippe’s most complicated wristwatches.
The case flanks and the minute-repeater slide areartistically hand-engraved. The slightly cambered
sapphire-crystal glass protects a blue sunburst dialthat gives the perpetual calendar an exceptionallyunique face. The apertures for the day, date, andmonth feature mirror-polished white-gold frames
and are arranged along an arc between 10 and
2 o’clock. The subsidiary seconds dial is positioned
at 6 o’clock and accommodates the lunar disk
in the characteristic moon-phase cutout. Eachof these little discoveries by themselves delightwatch connoisseurs, but the big surprise comes at

midnight, when all displays of the perpetual calendar
advance instantaneously and synchronously. This
is not merely a welcome function, it is also an
extremely challenging additional complication
based on the flawless interaction of 212 individualparts. Patek Philippe’s caliber engineers invested
five years in the development of this ingenious
mechanism to assure that the disks for the day,the date, the month, and the leap-year cycle reallyswitch to the next calendar day simultaneously andat the same time. The core of their invention isa mechanism consisting of levers and complex
program cams for which two patent applications
were filed.

The minute repeater
On demand, the minute repeater strikes thehours, the quarter-hours, and then the minutesthat have elapsed since the last quarter-hour. The
first hammer strikes the hours on the low-pitchedgong with one strike for each hour. Subsequently,
each quarter-hour is sounded as an alternating
double strike by two hammers on both thehigh- and low-pitched gongs. Finally, the second
hammer strikes the high-pitched gong to countthe number of minutes that have passed since thelast quarter-hour.
At 12:59, for instance, the melody consists of 12
low sounds, 3 double high/low sounds, and 14
high sounds (totaling the maximum of 32 strikes).

The tourbillon
In the course of the 18th century, watchmakers
discovered that the rate deviations of theirmovements were, in the final analysis, causedby the tiny hairsprings which together withthe balance constitute the oscillator of every
timepiece. Since its center of gravity does notcoincide with the geometric center of thespring, the regular breathing of the hairspringis negatively affected by the earth’s pull in any
orientation except horizontal.
The tourbillon corrects this systemic “positional”
error. This is done by integrating the balance andthe escapement in a hinged cage that rotates
about its axis once a minute. On this orbit,
the slightly eccentric center of gravity of thehairspring revolves around the center of thecage every 60 seconds, so the positional error is
automatically offset by progression, regardless ofthe orientation of the spring.

Instantaneous perpetual calendar withaperture displays
At midnight 2 minutes, all calendar displays except
the moon phase and the day/night indicatorsimultaneously and instantaneously advance tothe next day and, as the case may be, to the next
month and the next year.
The perpetual calendar automatically recognizes
months with fewer than 31 days and switches
directly from September 30 to October 1 and fromFebruary 28 to March 1.
In leap years, which are indicated by the Roman
numeral IV in the aperture between 4 and 5o’clock, the date disk first indicates February 29
before switching to March 1 a day later.
If the watch is wound every day, the perpetualcalendar will not need to be corrected until
February 28, 2100. The year 2100 is a secular year
in which the leap day is skipped according to therules of the Gregorian calendar.
The reference 5207 is a Patek Philippe perpetualcalendar in which the date correction pushpiece acts only on the date and does notchange the month and year displays.

Indications, functions, and settings
D 65B718DISPLAYS AND FUNCTIONS
1- MONTH
2- YEAR (IV = LEAP YEAR)
3- MOON PHASE DISPLAY
4- DAY/NIGHT INDICATOR
5- DAY OF WEEK
6- DATE
7- WINDING POSITION
8- HANDSETTING POSITION
9- SLIDE FOR ACTUATING THE STRIKING MECHANISM

9SETTINGS

4A 3C

2

A- PUSH PIECE FOR DATE CORRECTIONS (6)B- PUSH PIECE FOR MONTH (1) AND YEAR (2) CORRECTIONS
C- PUSH PIECE FOR MOON PHASE CORRECTIONS (3)D- PUSH PIECE FOR DAY OF WEEK CORRECTIONS (5)NOTE ON CORRECTING PERPETUAL CALENDAR DISPLAYS (PUSH PIECE A) AND MOON PHASE DISPLAY (PUSH PIECE C):• TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO YOUR WATCH, PLEASE PERFORM ALL SETTINGS AND CORRECTIONS WITH THE CORRECTION STYLUS
THAT WAS SUPPLIED WITH YOUR WATCH. ANY OTHER TOOL COULD DAMAGE YOUR WATCH.
• MAKE SURE TO SET YOUR WATCH TO 3 AM BEFORE CORRECTING DISPLAYS OR PERFORMING OTHER SETTINGS.
• THE SETTING SEQUENCE DESCRIBED BELOW MUST BE OBSERVED.
• FOR EVERY CORRECTION PROCEDURE, THE CORRECTOR PUSH PIECES MUST BE PUSHED ALL THE WAY IN AND THEN TOTALLYRELEASED AGAIN.

Settings
PREPARATIONS PRIOR TO SETTING
687• Before performing any corrections or settings, always
wind the watch (10 turns of the winding crown).
• Pull the crown out (8).
• Advance the hands clockwise until the date display (6)advances by one day.
• Set the hands to 3 am.
The color of the day/night indicator must be dark blue.
• Push the winding crown home again (7).

SETTING THE CALENDAR DISPLAYS
5D 6 B 1• Actuate push piece (A) as many times as needed todisplay the current date (6).
• Actuate push piece (B) as many times as needed todisplay the current year (2) and the current month (1).
• Actuate push piece (D) as many times as needed todisplay the current day of the week (5).

A

2

SETTING THE MOON PHASE

3• Actuate correction push piece (C) until lunar disk (3)indicates full moon
• Consult the “Full Moon Calendar” and determine how
many days have elapsed since the last full moon.
For each elapsed day (not counting the full-moon day),
actuate correction push piece (C) once to set the moonphase display.
Then, use the winding crown to set the correct time.
If you advance the hands beyond midnight, all displaysof the perpetual calendar will be advanced as well.

CSETTING THE TIME

87

• Pull the crown out (8).
• Set the hands to the correct time If you advance the hands
beyond midnight, all displays of the perpetual calendarwill be advanced as well.
• After having set the time, push the winding crown (7)home again.

Recommendations
water resistance9

Although your watch is equipped with a waterresistant crown, it is not protected at all against
the ingress of moisture because of the slot for theminute repeater slide.
Therefore, exercise care to ensure that liquid does
not come into contact with your watch.

Minute repeater

service

The strike sequence of the minute repeater
must be allowed to end completely before itis activated again.
Caution: Never actuate the winding crownas long as the repeater is working and for
30 seconds thereafter. Doing so could cause
damage to the repeating mechanism which
would not be covered by the warranty.
To activate the striking mechanism, push the slide(9) all the way up.
Now release it completely – do not pull it down.
Two small hammers will now strike the hours,
quarter-hours, and minutes on two gongs of low
and high pitch.
If the watch was set aside unwound for an
extended period of time, the minute repeater
might not indicate the correct time because theoil may have thickened at some points inside themechanism. This is absolutely normal and has nonegative consequences. The striking mechanism
will function correctly again within one or twohours after the watch has been rewound.

We recommend that you have your watch
serviced at least once every three to five years.
For this purpose, we suggest you take it to an
Authorized Patek Philippe Retailer who will
send it to our Geneva manufacture, the only
location authorized to service watches withminute repeaters. You can then be assured thatyour watch will be inspected and overhauled bya qualified master watchmaker at Patek Philippe
headquarters in Geneva.
The master watchmaker will completely disassemble the movement and then inspect, clean,and lubricate all the individual parts prior toreassembly. All functions of the watch will also
be tested in detail and the escapement regulated
if necessary. Finally, its rate accuracy will bemonitored and precision-adjusted for a further
period of at least two weeks.
The case and the buckle will be polished as per
your instructions and your watch will be returned
to you in mint condition. The entire process willtake several weeks because each watch must

undergo a complete series of tests to fulfill thestrict quality criteria of Patek Philippe.
If you have any questions regarding the maintenance of your watch, contact the Authorized
Patek Philippe Retailer nearest you or ourInternational Customer Service department inGeneva, or visit www.patek.com.
WINDING

When fully wound, your wristwatch has a power
reserve of at least 38 hours. We recommend thatyou wind your watch at about the same time
every day.
We advise you to wind the watch before you put
it on. This way, you can avoid lateral pressure
on the winding stem which, in the course of theyears, could damage the stem tube.
The same applies to handsetting. Please use yourfingernails to pull the crown out and turn it gently
between two fingertips.
DYNAMOMETRIC WINDING CROWN

Make sure you wind the watch gently anduniformly. If you proceed too vigorously, you
could damage the movement and break parts,
especially toward the end of the winding process.
To reduce this risk, Patek Philippe has equippedsome of its manually wound watches, including
the reference 5207, with a dynamometric crown.
This patented Patek Philippe innovation prevents
damage to the winding mechanism when themainspring is fully tensioned. When you heara succession of soft clicks, this indicates thatthe watch is now wound. This clicking sound isabsolutely normal and indicates when you canstop winding the watch.
CHANGING THE CASE BACKYour watch comes with a sapphire-crystal caseback and a interchangeable solid metal back.
Only qualified master watchmakers at the Patek
Philippe workshops in Geneva are authorized toexchange the backs.
PATEK PHILIPPE SEAL

The Patek Philippe Seal is a global emblem ofquality that applies to the completed and fully
cased watch. It covers the movement, the case,the dial, the hands, the pushers, the straps
and bracelets, the clasps, as well as all othercomponents that contribute to the accuracy andaesthetic appeal of a watch. It takes technical,
functional, and design-related aspects into
account and also covers the visual appearance of
the watch, its rate accuracy and dependability,
as well as the quality of the customer service
to which its owner is entitled. It encompasses
the entire know-how and the unique facets thatgovern the development, production, and longterm maintenance of an exceptional timepiece.

Movement technical data

CALIBER:R TO 27 PS QI

DIAMETER:

32 MM

HEIGHT:9.33 MMNUMBER OF PARTS:

557

NUMBER OF JEWELS:

37

POWER RESERVE:

MIN. 38 HOURS - MAX. 48 HOURSBALANCE:GYROMAX®

FREQUENCY:

21,600 SEMI-OSCILLATIONS PER HOUR (3 HZ)

TOURBILLON:STEEL CAGE, 69 PARTS, 0.3 GRAMS,
1 REVOLUTION PER MINUTEBALANCE SPRING:BREGUETHALLMARK:PATEK PHILIPPE SEAL