How Patek Philippe revived the dome clock: enamelling goes outré

Table clocks.

Over a century in business has seen Patek Philippe create a handful of era-defying watch designs, variations of which are commonly seen on the wrists of aficionados such as Jay-Z, Drake and Victoria Beckham. The watchmaker, one of a handful of independently owned Swiss watch names, is rarely singled out as a design-led house, however. Showiness is not its nature, yet Patek Philippe boasts an avant-garde side that's well worth exploring. Its singular, decorated clock designs are a case in point. This week (7-16 June), at the ‘Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts 2024’ exhibition in London, its magnificently outré and highly collectable enamelled dome clocks take centre stage. Here's what we saw.

Patek Philippe’s enamelled dome clocks