To celebrate its 175th anniversary, Swiss luxury watchmaker Patek Philippe unveiled a stunning $2.6 million wristwatch.

Featuring 18-karat gold and sapphire crystals, the Grandmaster Chime timepiece is the most expensive and complicated wristwatch Patek has ever been assembled. Grandmaster Chime ref. 5175, the world’s most complicated wristwatch — ever. It blends classic chiming complications like the grande and petite sonnerie with brand new ones like the date repeater, while also building in a state-of-the-art perpetual calendar. Only seven of the timepieces will be produced, and Patek will hold onto one that will be kept in the company’s private collection in Geneva.

Just looking at the Grandmaster Chime, there is no doubt that you’re staring at something special. A special timepiece indeed.The 18K rose gold case is absolutely massive at 47.4mm across and 16.1mm thick, and it is hand-engraved on nearly every surface. The case actually spins between the massive lugs, allowing you to see the two dials.But it must be said, (although the price speaks volumes already), this expensive watch is not for everyone. Buyers must apply to purchase one of the watches, and they’ll have to prove their passion for Patek to the company’s president.

“I would like to chat with the client and make sure he’s a watch lover and make sure he’s going to enjoy the watch for many years,”

 Thierry Stern, President of Patek Philippe.

The Grandmaster Chime of Chimes 

Patek Philippe’s Grandmaster Chime is a wrist-format timekeeping instrument of absolutely unprecedented complexity and ingenuity that establishes new benchmarks in terms of technical and aesthetic elegance. In its double-face case with a diameter of 47 mm, it accommodates four spring barrels and no fewer than 20 complications, including coveted functions such as a Grande and Petite Sonnerie, a minute repeater, an instantaneous perpetual calendar with a four-digit year display, a second time zone, and two patented global debuts in the domain of chiming watches: an acoustic alarm that strikes the alarm time and a date repeater that sounds the date on demand.

Twenty20 Compilations 

1. Grande Sonnerie
2. Petite Sonnerie
3. Minute repeater
4. Strikework mode display (Silence/Grand Sonnerie/Petite Sonnerie)
5. Alarm with time strike
6. Date repeater
7. Movement power-reserve indicator
8. Strikework power-reserve indicator
9. Strikework isolator display
10. Second time zone
11. Second time zone day/night indicator
12. Instantaneous perpetual calendar
13. Day-of-week display
14. Month display
15. Date display (on both dials)
16. Leap year cycle
17. Four-digit year display
18. 24-hour and minute subdial
19. Moon phase
20. Crown position indicator