A totally new and equally unexpected release for 2021: the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5990 Travel Time in rose gold.
On the morning of the very first day of Watches & Wonders 2021, Patek Philippe announced the release of this heavy-hitter: the Travel Time Chronograph, ref. 5990/1R-001. This rose gold variant, which also sports the peculiar blue soleil dial is a rather unusual colour combination for Patek. Truth be told, it didn’t really excite us all too much.
An all-new metal for the reference 5990
The most significant novelty is the choice in material. The new rose gold 5990 Nautilus will be sure to have a hefty presence on the wrist. Although it measures 40.5mm in diameter, the 5990 feels and wears more like a 42mm watch when accounting for the pushers and crown. Paired with its 12.53mm thickness, and the heavy metal, best be sure it will weigh quite a bit.
So, why go for rose gold? Even the steel version of this watch, given its dimensions, wasn’t exacly light. The more dense rose gold will be sure to further increase this weight. However, this choice is consistent with Thierry Stern’s announcement to cut back the production of their steel timepieces and to relinquish the spotlight to the precious metals.
The blue dial
Another aspect to this new rose gold Nautilus ref. 5990 Travel Time is the peculiar blue soleil dial which we breifly mentioned earlier. In the past, this reference was only available in a steel case and ardesia grey dial – simple yet effective when done well. The blue dial colour on this metal remains somewhat of an enigma to me: why the huge contrast?
After speaking with one of the friends of the page – an avid Patek Philippe collector – they seem to really like this contrast and the timepiece in general. As we always say: De Gustibus!
Perhaps this choice was made to better distinguish it from the 5980/1R, a chronograph which also had a rose gold case-dark grey dial. Seeing as they have very dial similar layouts, they could have been misidentified.
The arrival of the new bracelet clasp
The final novelty to the new rose gold 5990 Travel Time is the bracelet clasp. We don’t have all the details or photos yet, but all we know is that, in order to support this extra weight, a more robust clasp mechanism was needed. It seems like the same clasp from the white gold 5740 Nautilus Perpetual Calendar has been used to make it stronger.
The same movement to the previous 5990 in steel
From a caliber point of view, it would appear that nothing’s change for this new rose gold variant. The movement is thus the CH 28‑520 C FUS. This movement contains a flyback chronograph complication as well as a dual time-zone function, home and local. Moreover, it features a day/night window for both of these zones and a date window linked to the local time.
The Retail Price for the 5990/1R-001 estimated to be €94,160 (including taxes)
-Translated by Patrick R.
(who, by the way, completely disagrees with the views expressed in this article and absolutely loves it)
