Patek Philippe produced the Calibre 89 in 1989, when it was presented as the world’s most complicated portable watch.
The Calibre 89 was created to mark Patek Philippe’s 150th anniversary. It is a mechanical pocket watch with 33 complications, including a perpetual calendar, minute-repeater functions, a thermometer, astronomical indications, a star chart and displays for sunrise and sunset. Its complexity required 1,728 components and five years of research and development.
Only four Calibre 89 watches were made: one each in white gold, yellow gold, rose gold and platinum. The watch weighs about 1.1 kilograms, measures 89 millimeters across and is roughly 41 millimeters thick—dimensions that underline why it was a pocket watch rather than an everyday wristwatch.
The phrase “most complicated” is historical, not permanent. Patek Philippe’s Henry Graves Supercomplication held the earlier distinction with 24 complications, while Vacheron Constantin’s Reference 57260 later surpassed the Calibre 89 with 57. Jaeger-LeCoultre, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin are also associated with high complications, but the 1989 Calibre 89 belongs to Patek Philippe.