Water is the hardest thing to render in cloisonné, and this dial is built on it. Reflections are continuous and cloisonné is discrete: every ripple has to become its own wire-bounded cell, and the illusion collapses if the divisions become visible as divisions. Patek Philippe returns to riverside and harbour scenes repeatedly in the Rare Handcrafts programme for exactly that reason — they are the subjects that separate a competent enameller from an exceptional one, and the Manufacture keeps a small number of both.

The yellow gold case measures 34.5 mm. The scene is worked in cloisonné enamel, the gold wires defining the water, the bank and the figures before any colour is fired. A self-winding movement shows hours and minutes only, leaving the composition unbroken. The watch is worn on an alligator strap. The Golden Ellipse gives the composition the width a river scene needs, with no bezel, subdial or date window cropping it at any edge.

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