Patria Brigadier Tourbillon Subscription Edition: A Beautifully Hand-Finished, Swiss Made Tourbillon for 18,000 Swiss francs is the Bargain of the Year, perhaps the Decade!

Credits: Article and images by Ian Skellern @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/09/02/patria-brigadier-tourbillon-subscription-edition-a-beautifully-hand-finished-swiss-made-tourbillon-for-18000-swiss-francs-is-the-bargain-of-the-year-perhaps-the-decade-reprise/

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Movement

The Swiss Made (which is already a surprise for an 18,000 Swiss franc tourbillon) proprietary Caliber PA-130 movement was developed for Patria by manufactured by Olivier Mory, who is a very experienced watchmaker and movement designer who has an impressive CV that includes Renaud & Papi, Richard Mille, and Valfleurier.

Stunning view through the display back of the Patria Brigadier Tourbillon Subscription Edition

While Mory has his own company, OM Mechanics, developing and making movements, he is a stakeholder in Patria, so it makes the tourbillon at least partially an ‘in-house’ movement. I wore the first prototype for a week during Watches & Wonders 2023 and found it both reliable and surprisingly accurate – surprisingly because the watch was only finished the day before I started wearing it and I didn’t expect the regulation to be so good.

The movement is hand wound and features an impressive 110-hour power reserve, but what really stands out – especially for an 18,000 Swiss franc Swiss Made tourbillon – is the high standard of the finishing. Hand finishing no less! And the screws are even flame blued, at this price I would have expected chemically blued screws. And there’s even an impressive 5-year warranty.

Patria Brigadier Tourbillon Subscription Edition Caliber PA-130 movement

The hand finishing is by Philippe Narbel, who worked at Audemars Piguet for eight years before setting up his own movement hand decoration company, Manufactor. Narbel is considered one of Switzerland’s leading hand finishing artists and is renown for his stunning anglage.

Any gripes?

After wearing it for a few days I was very impressed with the Brigadier Tourbillon Subscription Edition, but I did have one gripe: I felt that the crown was a little too small and would have liked it to be a slightly larger diameter to make winding easier. That said, I did ask a few collector friends for their opinions on winding the watch and, while one agreed with me that he would prefer the crown to be a little larger, another three thought it was fine as is, so that’s unlikely to be a deal-breaker.

Patria Brigadier Tourbillon Subscription Edition

Conclusion

Few would consider anything costing 18,000 Swiss francs (approximately $20,000) to be cheap, but for a Swiss Made tourbillon with a beautifully hand-finished movement, it’s a bargain. That’s unbeatable value for money and I expect this first edition of 40 pieces to sell out quickly, especially as 25% of them have already been ordered even before the watch launched. Delivery is anticipated towards the end of the year. I’m sure that more editions of the Patria Brigadier Tourbillon will follow, but they are unlikely to be priced at such an attractive level.

For more information and how to order, please visit https://patriawatch.co/product/brigadier-tourbillon-subscription-edition/

Quick facts: Patria Brigadier Tourbillon Subscription Edition
Indications: hours, munites
Case: 316L stainless steel, anti reflective coated box sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal display caseback
Dimensions: 39 mm diameter x 12 mm high
Movement: Calibre PA-130 hand wound, proprietary, Swiss Made, 60-second tourbillon; 3 Hz balance; 100-hour power reserve, 19 jewels
Finishing: hand anglage, Geneva stripes, perlage, bead blasting, flame blued screws
Water resistance: 50 meters
Strap: option of either midnight blue or caramel brown Italian leather
Warranty: 5 years against manufacturing defects
Price: 18,000 Swiss francs (excluding taxes and shipping)

* This article was first published 26 May 2023 at Patria Brigadier Tourbillon Subscription Edition: A Beautifully Hand-Finished, Swiss Made Tourbillon for 18,000 Swiss francs is the Bargain of the Year, perhaps the Decade!