Patek Philippe gets into exhibition mode in Singapore for a panoramic and in-depth showcase of its legendary watchmaking universe and creations.

Journalists who were at the Patek Philippe&rsquo;s Baselworld&nbsp;presentation earlier this year were among those to receive firsthand&nbsp;breaking news of the fifth Grand Exhibition by the last&nbsp;family-owned independent Genevan timepiece manufacturer.

&nbsp;For those lucky enough to have visited the previous chapters in&nbsp;Dubai (2012), Munich (2013), London (2015) or New York (2017),&nbsp;they would have more than an inkling of what to expect for the&nbsp;upcoming one in Singapore.

Occupying 1800 sqm and spanning ten themed rooms, the&nbsp;presentation is like a personal visit to the watchmaker&rsquo;s historic&nbsp;salons on Rue du Rh&ocirc;ne in Geneva, its manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates and the Patek Philippe Museum &mdash; encapsulated and&nbsp;reimagined for the Southeast Asian audience.

What makes this Grand Exhibition edition so special is its&nbsp;synchronicity with the Singapore Bicentennial&mdash;an earmark of&nbsp;the significance of the island state and the Southeast Asian&nbsp;nations in terms of their appreciation for fine horology. In&nbsp;addition, the event will also celebrate the launch of limited&nbsp;special-edition watches alongside a rare handcrafts collection&nbsp;infused with the cultural and artistic expressions of the region.

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On the eve of its official opening, here is a rundown of what to&nbsp;expect at the exhibition:

Watching the film chronicling Patek&rsquo;s&nbsp;history in the Cinema Room is the best way to get immersed&nbsp;in its world. Then step into the Current Collection Room, with&nbsp;interiors inspired by the Patek Philippe Salon on Rue du Rh&ocirc;ne&nbsp;in Geneva, to appreciate the watchmaker&rsquo;s current collection.&nbsp;

Next, view Patek&rsquo;s limited special editions created specifically&nbsp;for the Southeast Asian market at the intimate Napoleon Room,&nbsp;surrounded by spectacular motion-picture views of Lake Geneva.

Absolutely not to be missed is the Museum Room, where&nbsp;a selection from the Patek Philippe Museum (inaugurated in&nbsp;2001) including very rare timekeeping instruments will be&nbsp;exhibited in Singapore for the first time. It is also the first time&nbsp;that such a big collection has been loaned from the museum&nbsp;and showcased abroad.

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Sectioned into two separate divisions similar to the Patek&nbsp;Philippe Museum at Lake Geneva are the Antique Collection&nbsp;and Patek Philippe Collection. The former opens up Patek&rsquo;s&nbsp;celebrated history of watchmaking encompassing pieces&nbsp;such as the earliest portable timepieces from the mid-&nbsp;16th century including a drum watch crafted in Nuremberg,&nbsp;Germany (S-892) in 1548; enamelled pocket watches; musical&nbsp;automata; and technical watches crafted by the most talented&nbsp;European watchmakers.

The latter section reveals the watchmaker&rsquo;s horology prowess&nbsp;with the display of the manufacture&rsquo;s most spectacular&nbsp;creations from 1839 to the present day, such as a royal watch&nbsp;gifted to Queen Victoria during the Great Exhibition at the&nbsp;London Crystal Palace (P-24/1851), the first Swiss-made&nbsp;wristwatch (P-49/1868), and a repertoire of famous Patek &nbsp;Philippe &ldquo;super complications&rdquo; such as the Calibre 89 (the&nbsp;world&rsquo;s most complicated portable mechanical watch for&nbsp;over 25 years), and the Star Caliber 2000 (21 complications).&nbsp;

Besides those, visitors are also privy to view the pocket&nbsp;watch that Antoine Norbert de Patek obtained for his 30th&nbsp;birthday (P-1/1842) and the first documented wristwatch with&nbsp;a perpetual calendar (P-72/1925).

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Among the most prized of ancestral skills used in the&nbsp;embellishment of Patek wristwatches and table clocks is the&nbsp;work of enamel painters whose guild has fostered a centuries-old&nbsp;link to watchmaking. Get up close with these specialist&nbsp;artisans as they demonstrate their artistry and techniques&nbsp;at the Rare Handcrafts Room.

Also, watch live on site the&nbsp;manufacture&rsquo;s master watchmakers display their finesse and&nbsp;expertise on the inner workings of mechanical timepieces at&nbsp;the Watchmakers Room.

Underscoring the reputation of Patek Philippe is its mastery&nbsp;of grand complications of which the Grand Complications&nbsp;Room is the space to head to for hardcore horology collectors&nbsp;and aficionados. The concentration of the most complicated&nbsp;and innovative Patek timepieces in this unique overview is&nbsp;unparalleled.

The Movements Room is dedicated to the&nbsp;expansive catalogue of Patek Philippe movements from simple&nbsp;calibres to elaborate ones, while the Interactive Room offers&nbsp;a hands-on experiential tour of the manufacture and its calibre&nbsp;engineering processes.

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Last but not least, the Singapore 200th Anniversary Room&nbsp;highlights the twin trajectories of Patek&rsquo;s timepieces and&nbsp;events, coupled with Singapore&rsquo;s historical milestones. A&nbsp;salute to the island-state and its neighbouring countries,&nbsp;this specially appointed exhibition complex gives a glimpse&nbsp;of their history, culture, art and natural surroundings via an&nbsp;extraordinary selection of timepieces on loan from museums&nbsp;and private collectors.

The highlights include: a Genevan pocket&nbsp;watch that depicts the port of Canton in miniature painting&nbsp;on enamel (S-112/1830); a dome table clock (Ref. 20074M)&nbsp;decorated with the &ldquo;Thai Ornaments&rdquo; motif in cloisonn&eacute; enamel&nbsp;infused with silver spangles; peach-shaped pendant watches&nbsp;(S-303A-B/1810); a dome table clock themed &ldquo;Tropical Island&rdquo;&nbsp;(Ref. 20087M); and two pocket watches (P-1457) that once&nbsp;belonged to King Rama V of Siam.

Having taken in the Swiss watchmaker&rsquo;s glorious watchmaking&nbsp;sphere spanning its vision and independence; innovation and&nbsp;creative freedom; tradition and exceptional know-how; quality and&nbsp;craftsmanship; aesthetic and rarity&mdash;along with its achievements&nbsp;and legacy, it is time to adjourn to the Patek Philippe lounge caf&eacute;&nbsp;for a perfect end to an eye-opening discovery.

The Watch Art Grand Exhibition Singapore 2019 is presented&nbsp;by Patek Philippe at Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands, from 28th September 2019&nbsp;to 13th October 2019.

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Find out more about this free&nbsp;public exhibition with ticket reservation details at <a href="https://www.patek.com/en/company/news/watch-art-grand-exhibition/singapore-2019#event">patek.com/watchart2019</a>.

Rooms With A View: What to expect at the Patek Philippe exhibition in Singapore

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