Calatrava 5177 Tsuba – Bird and Branches

The Patek Philippe Calatrava 5177G-029 & 5177G-036 are created for the 2023 Patek Philippe Tokyo exhibition. The decoration gracing a tsuba – a traditional sword guard – inspired the dials of these two limited editions of 5 watches each. The branches, the birds and the flowers were finely hand engraved in relief and the background was hand engraved with a circular piqué motif. This composition was then tinted brown and the main features reworked with hand engraving to reveal the gold of the dial plate. Hand-executed electroplating with white rhodium or yellow gold enabled the engraver to bring out nuances and contrasts. The dials are further enriched with a central relief motif representing the opening of a tsuba. Dauphine-style hands in white gold or yellow gold indicate the time. They feature a pierced central fillet recalling the shape of a sword. The bezels are adorned with the famous Clous de Paris or hobnail pattern emblematic of the Patek Philippe style.