Patek Philippe has long had a complicated relationship with the idea of the women’s watch. Its most recognisable contemporary collections have offered very different interpretations of femininity, from the Twenty~4 and Aquanaut Luce to the more traditional Calatrava.
Now, the Manufacture is returning to another of its distinctive shapes: the Gondolo.
The new Gondolo Ladies First collection revisits the cushion-shaped, Art Deco-inspired design with six new references that combine precious metals, colourful gemstones and diamonds with an intentionally practical approach to everyday wear.
The result is less a revival than a reinterpretation of a design language Patek Philippe has explored for decades.
A Gondolo With A New Attitude
The Gondolo has roots in Patek Philippe’s golden age of design, when the collection was created for the Brazilian market and experimented with square, rectangular, tonneau and cushion-shaped cases.
Its history with women is particularly significant. In 2009, the Manufacture introduced the Ladies First Chronograph, placing its first in-house hand-wound chronograph movement in a watch designed specifically for women.
The new Gondolo Ladies First draws on that precedent while taking a distinctly different approach.
Its softly rounded cushion-shaped case retains the collection’s architectural character, while polished gold surfaces, articulated lugs and a slim profile are intended to sit comfortably and discreetly on the wrist. A quartz movement also allows the case to remain slender, while offering the convenience of everyday wear.
Colour, Diamonds And Craft
The six new watches are divided between gem-set dial models and more elaborate Joaillerie versions.
The first three pair white or rose gold cases with softly coloured opaline dials, each framed by a flange set with 108 diamonds. Wave-patterned dials, gold hour markers and textured calfskin straps give these watches a more understated interpretation of jewellery watchmaking.
The Joaillerie models take the idea considerably further. Each features a case, dial and lugs set with a total of 687 brilliant-cut diamonds, with blue topaz, green tsavorite or purple amethyst forming colourful hour markers. Matching alligator straps reinforce the monochromatic effect.
At the most elaborate end of the line are two existing Haute Joaillerie models, combining hundreds of diamonds with Akoya pearls.
Underneath the decoration is Patek Philippe’s E15 quartz movement. While quartz is not usually the first association with high watchmaking, Patek Philippe notes that 80 per cent of the movement’s components are manufactured using methods associated with mechanical calibres.
It is a fitting approach for a collection that is ultimately about choice: taking one of Patek Philippe’s historic forms and reconsidering what a modern jewellery watch can be — less formal, more colourful and designed to move easily between occasions.
