The long-awaited moment has arrived. Watches & Wonders has opened its doors, and the latest from the maisons are finally public. Patek Philippe enriches its Calatrava collection with a Travel Time that features an unprecedented 24-hour display.
On the Calatrava Travel Time, the dial takes center stage. A deep blue is the backdrop for the 24 rose gold applied hour markers. For the hours, baton hour markers alternate with Arabic numeral hour markers with 24-hour indications. The chapter ring, meanwhile, is indicated by a double chemin de fer scale, interrupted every 5 minutes by a cabochon index.
In the center of the dial are three rose gold syringe hands. The luminescent-coated hands indicate local time and minutes, respectively, while the openworked hand indicates the second time zone of the Travel Time. To conclude, you find the small seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock.
A particular highlight is the case, which compared to other Travel Time watches is incredibly clean and essential, thanks to the elimination of superfluous buttons on the left side. This was made possible by a patented implementation within the caliber that allows a fairly small thickness of 9.85 mm, while the case diameter is 42 mm.
Inspired by the Cronometro Gondolo
The most prominent feature of this new Calatrava is definitely the 24-hour time display. Of course, this is not a new solution for the maison, and in this particular case, the inspiration goes all the way back to the early 1920s.
In fact, a similar 24-hour display was used by Patek on the Gondolo Chronometers produced for its Brazilian partner “Gondolo & Labouriau“. We told the incredible story of this Brazilian retailer in a dedicated article that I recommend you read!
New caliber 31-260 revised
Visible through the sapphire crystal case back, the caliber is not entirely new. At Patek, they started with the ultra-flat self-winding 31-260 movement, to which Travel Time and 24-hour functions were added.
The 31-260 then becomes a 31-260 PS FUS 24H. The most interesting thing is definitely the patented solution that allows the elimination of the traditional local time correction buttons. The adjustment then, takes place thanks to an intermediate position of the crown that allows for forward and backward corrections of one hour.
Price
The list price is EUR 57,830.00 (including VAT).
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