Sporting Elegance with the Patek Philippe Cubitus Ref. 5840P
With a history spanning almost two centuries and an archive boasting a wealth of historical models from which to draw, it is not often that we see a new collection from Patek Philippe. Yet the Maison stunned the horological world with the release of the Cubitus in October of 2024, a daring new alliance of elegance and efficiency that represents a modern expression of Patek Philippe’s unique design language.
Initially presented with a trio of inaugural large-size references and augmented in 2025 with two medium-size models, the collection has once more been enriched with the release of its first Grand Complication, Ref. 5840P, at Watches and Wonders 2026. Conceived as a single, harmonious whole, the technical intricacies of its case, movement, and skeletonised dial reveal the mechanical complexity at the heart of this reference.
This new iteration of the Patek Philippe Cubitus marries painstaking detail and precision with the cutting edge of Swiss watchmaking, producing a timepiece that sits at the intersection of elegance and innovation.
The Unmistakable Face of the Patek Philippe Cubitus Ref. 5840P
Where previous Cubitus references presented their distinctive linear motif as a closed surface, Ref. 5840P reimagines the dial as an open architecture. The Maison's signature horizontal embossing has been transposed into finely laser-cut strips, finished with a horizontal satin-brushed sheen and blue sunburst design. These strips align with striking precision over the openworked mainplate and bridges below, creating a layered composition in which the dial becomes a window onto the movement itself. This singular design also renders the watch face entirely see-through, with its calibre custom-cut to mimic the angular strips which adorn the dial.
Applied baton-style hour markers in 18ct white gold rest above the strips, their coating ensuring perfect legibility against the depth of the openworked architecture. The rounded baton-type hour and minute hands, also in white gold and treated with luminescent material, complete the bold, contemporary new face of the Patek Philippe Cubitus.
Four subsidiary dials orchestrate the perpetual calendar’s many indications: the day of the week and 24-hour display at 9 o’clock; the month and leap year cycle at 3 o’clock; and the date paired with the moon phase at 6 o’clock. The delicate balance of snailed counters, transfer-printed inscriptions, and the layered dial structure lends the composition a three-dimensional quality, elevating the perpetual calendar from a feat of horology to an object of beauty in its own right.
A Spectacular Reproduction of the Moon
Seated within the subsidiary dial at 6 o’clock is perhaps one of the most poetic features of the Ref. 5840P. Patek Philippe has, for the first time within its regular collection, equipped a model with the ‘large-moon’ mechanism first introduced on the World Time Moon references 5575G and 7175R, created to mark the Manufacture’s 175th anniversary.
The realism of the effect is achieved through two incredibly thin discs fashioned from mineral glass. The first is engraved and metallised on its underside, its surface adorned with stars set against a depth of blue varnish that evokes the night sky. The second, shaped as an appliqué and housed within the surface of the first, is finished with black metallisation and laser-cut to replicate the contoured relief of the moon’s surface. The result is a lunar motif of remarkable presence, a fitting expression of the watch’s Grand Complication status.
I would like this watch to have a real sporty, fresh spirit. Capturing the essence of a convertible car.
A Square Case in the Most Noble of Metals
The design of the Patek Philippe Cubitus collection draws on a quadrangular tradition that has long fascinated the Maison, most notably during the Art Deco period of the 1970s. With Ref. 5840P, however, this language reaches a new apex. For the first Grand Complication to enter the collection, Patek Philippe has chosen platinum – a material that the Maison reserves for its most distinguished references.
The case retains the defining quadrangular silhouette of the Patek Philippe Cubitus collection, its 45mm diagonal and gently rounded corners now articulated through alternating polished and vertically satin-brushed surfaces. Despite the architectural complexity housed within, its profile remains remarkably slender, measuring just 10mm in height.
The two-part construction with lateral lugs is preserved, lending visual continuity with the inaugural large-sized Cubitus models. In keeping with Patek Philippe’s tradition, a single baguette-cut diamond is set into the bezel at 6 o’clock – a discreet signature confirming the platinum provenance and harmonising with the geometry of the case. Water resistance is rated to 30 metres, with a screw-down crown and a sapphire crystal case back inviting contemplation of the movement within.
The Beating Heart of the Patek Philippe Cubitus Ref. 5840P
At the centre of the watch lies an entirely new movement: the self-winding, ultra-thin calibre 28-28 Q SQU, an evolution of the calibre 240 Q reconceived for the Patek Philippe Cubitus collection. Fully skeletonised and square-shaped with rounded corners, the movement was engineered to mirror the case’s angular contours in pursuit of total harmony between mechanism and exterior.
For the first time in a Patek Philippe wristwatch, the movement is presented in a monochrome aesthetic. The plates, bridges, wheel plates, balance, and 22K gold mini-rotor share a unified finish, with only the heat-treated blued screws and the hand-engraved, hand-varnished blue Calatrava Cross on the mini-rotor providing chromatic relief. Even the functional jewels have been considered: clear sapphires now replace the traditional red rubies throughout, save for those on the arms of the lever, where the conventional colour is retained for precision timing tests. The Patek Philippe Seal, applied to every finished movement, completes the assurance of horological excellence.
A Strap of Modern Technicality
Securing the watch to the wrist is a strap fashioned from ultra-resistant Cordura composite material in navy blue, animated by a textile motif and finished with contrasting cream stitching. This combination lends the Ref. 5840P a sporting modernity that complements rather than tempers the formality of its platinum case.
Fastening is provided by way of the patented Cubitus fold-over clasp in matching platinum, equipped with three independent safety catches and engraved with the name of the collection – a final point of finishing that speaks to the considered nature of this timepiece.
Discover the Patek Philippe Cubitus Ref. 5840 at Michael Spiers
The Patek Philippe Cubitus Ref. 5840 represents a new chapter in one of horology’s most exciting recent collections: a meeting of mechanical depth and elegant design, encapsulated in a single expression of watchmaking excellence.
To learn more about this exceptional new reference or explore the wider Patek Philippe collection at Michael Spiers, please arrange a private appointment with specialist Gio Chirieleison at our Truro showroom.