This year, Revolution turns 20. Two decades of chronicling watches, people and ideas have given us a front-row seat to a remarkable story: how an age-old craft has both preserved its soul and reinvented itself for the 21st century. To celebrate, we’ve chosen over 100 names and milestones that, for us, define the era so far. From leaders to watches, you can see the whole list here.

In October 2014, Patek Philippe celebrated their 175th anniversary; well, really, it was the crowning moment of a year-long marking of the “dodransbicentennial,” full of gala events and celebratory releases. But now, more than a decade later, there’s one watch that ruled them all — the mighty Grandmaster Chime. It shocked and awed when it was released, and it still stands tall as the most important Patek Philippe of the modern era.

Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175 with the ornate hand engraving case

By every metric, the Grandmaster Chime is an impressive watch. It’s the most complicated watch Patek Philippe has ever created, and perhaps the most complicated chiming watch ever made. The result of over eight years of research and development, it houses 20 complications (including two never seen before) and has a caliber comprising of 1,366 parts. On top of that, the case alone, a mighty twin-faced 47mm creation, took four years of research to perfect and comprises of 214 pieces, as well as some truly ornate hand engraving. We don’t need to dive into the details of all the complications here — but some of the ones that stand out are the abilities for the watch to chime grande and petite sonnerie en passant, or in passing.

The Caliber 300 GS AL 36-750 QIS FUS IRM comprising of 1,366 parts

There’s also an alarm, where the alarm chime is, in fact, the current minute repeater sequence. On top of that, the Grandmaster Chime is the first watch to feature a date repeater, with a double chime for 10-day intervals and a higher chime for single days. It’s a cornucopia of chiming complications and a definitive statement that, when it comes to high complications, one does not mess with Patek Philippe.

As you can imagine, this level of watchmaking mastery and baroque artistry comes with a great degree of exclusivity. At launch, it had a retail price of CHF 2.5 million, but it wasn’t the price that was the issue; it was availability. Only seven pieces of the 175th anniversary Grandmaster Chimes would be produced, and of those, one would live in the Patek Philippe Museum, with the other six being reserved for long-standing collectors. Luckily (and unsurprisingly), Patek Philippe decided to continue creating Grandmaster Chime models, albeit in an exceptionally limited production, with one of the most memorable being a stainless steel version that was offered at the Only Watch charity auction in 2019, which hammered in for a staggering CHF 31 million.

Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175

Tech Specs: Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime Ref. 5175

Movement: Manual winding Caliber 300 GS AL 36-750 QIS FUS IRM; 72-hour power reserve
Functions: Time – Hours, minutes and second time zone with day/night indicator; Calendar – Instantaneous perpetual calendar with moonphase display; Chiming mechanism – Grande and petite sonnerie, minute repeater, acoustic alarm time and date repeater; Additional indicators – Strikework mode and isolator display, alarm ON/OFF, crown position indicator, and power reserve indicators for movement and strikework
Case: 47.4mm × 16.1mm; 18K rose gold; protected against dust and moisture
Dial: 18K gold in silvery white opaline
Strap: Hand-stitched dark brown alligator leather; 18K rose gold folding clasp with hand engraving