REF. 5013J, MOVEMENT NO. 1’908’006, CASE NO. 2’928’476, CIRCA 1993

The present reference 5013 is believed to be one of only 13 examples of the model in yellow gold to have appeared in public to date, the total output being a mere 30 pieces. The timepiece is from the first years of production, characterized by the Arabic numeral on the leap year indication. Consigned by a distinguished private collector it is furthermore preserved in excellent overall condition.

Reference 5013 was launched in 1992 and is one of the most complex wristwatches ever made by Patek Philippe, with a total of 515 parts. Production terminated in 2011. During the early part of the 20th century, Patek Philippe produced a small number of minute repeating wristwatches. To celebrate the company's 150th Anniversary in 1989, the firm produced a minute repeating wristwatch, the first to feature an automatic calibre.

This innovation led to the development of the Reference 5013, the first minute-repeating wristwatch to feature an automatic movement combined with perpetual calendar with retrograde date indication. The retrograde date hand moves along a 270 degree arc and at midnight of the last day of each month, it flies back to the first of the month. During this precisely controlled fly-back phase, the hand is disconnected from the drive train and is cleverly captured back on the 1st of the month to ensure it does not slip forward by a day.