While Ulysse Nardin chose to release its Freak very early in the history of the watch industry’s silicon era, perfect Patek Philippe replica waited four more years, carefully testing and verifying its findings before the company was satisfied the material could live up to its high standards.
In 2005 it introduced its patented Silinvar, whose name is a contraction of “silicon” and “invariable.” This silicon with an oxidized surface for thermal stability is one that Patek Philippe first used in 2005 for the escape wheel in automatic Caliber 315, which powers the practical 1:1 Swiss fake Patek Philippe Reference 5250 annual calendar.
The mass of this Silinvar escape wheel was less than two-thirds that of a conventional steel wheel of the same dimensions, which means it required less energy for acceleration, leaving more energy for the timekeeping operations.
Important for best replica watches at the time, Silinvar did not change the brand’s access to the Geneva Seal, whose paragraph 8, article 3 at the time read, “The escape wheel must be light, its materials thickness must not exceed 0.16 mm in large parts or 0.13 mm in small parts with a diameter less than 18 mm, its locking faces must be polished.” The locking faces of the Silinvar escape wheel were even substantially smoother than those of a polished steel wheel.