Patek Philippe Complications 43mm 5249R-001 Hours And Minutes On Demand Automaton – The Crow and the Fox Rose Gold Matara

The 5249R-001 is Patek Philippe’s first automaton wristwatch in the manufacture’s contemporary history — a reference that traces its lineage directly to a pocket watch Louis Cottier designed for Patek Philippe in 1958, now preserved in the Patek Philippe Museum, which depicted La Fontaine’s fable of the Crow and the Fox using the same on-demand retrograde time display mechanism. The complication operates by pressing the pusher at two o’clock: two curved retrograde scales spring forward to display hours and minutes while the applied gold fox and crow figures animate on the dial surface, then the scales retract and the animals return to their positions among the hand-engraved foliage. The translation of a 1958 pocket watch concept into a self-winding wristwatch caliber — achieved through the purpose-built 31-260 PS HMD AU — represents one of the most technically demanding horological projects in the 2026 calendar year.

The 43mm rose gold Officer’s-style case carries a sapphire crystal case back protected by a dust cover with invisible hinges. The opaline matara brown dial on an 18K gold plate presents applied fox and crow figures in contrasting colours amid hand-engraved gold foliage, with two curved retrograde scales for hours and minutes activated on demand. A shiny chocolate brown square-scale alligator strap with rose gold triple-blade fold-over clasp completes the reference. Caliber 31-260 PS HMD AU, self-winding with platinum off-center minirotor, powers the movement.

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