A Pilot Watch for Patek Philippe – Calatrava Pilot Travel Time 5524G
It is such a thing with time. If you would travel through the universe with the speed of light and return to earth after a few years, you would have aged less then the people living on the planet earth. Surely such a flying object is not realistic, but since the rapid development of Aviation in the 1930th, the speed we travel has an impact on time – however you are more likely to have a jetlag then becoming younger, unfortunately.
There was also an era of pilot watches at Patek Philippe
At the beginning, board instruments and wristwatches with dedicated mechanism served Pilots for their orientation. There were a few so called hour-angle watches around of which some have been co-developed by pioneer Charles Lindbergh. At some point when GPS navigation took over it became redundant. But Pilot watches never died. Today Pilots and frequent travellers use timezone-watches for their orientation. One of the first watchmakers that developed a mechanism for all 24 worldtime-zones was Louis Cottier in 1931. From this time on Patek Philippe used this function for their Heure Universelle watches and has advanced this complex technique steadily.
The Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time
In 1959 Patek Philippe patented their first Travel Time mechanism. Another milestone was set in 1996 with a two-timezone-mechanism in which the progress of switching to the second timezone has no impact on the accuracy of the first timezone. As soon as one pusher for the adjustment of the timezone (forward or backward in one-hour increments) is being pressed, an isolator uncouples the time-zone mechanism from the going train. This prevents the degradation of the amplitude of the balance and allows it to continue oscillating at a regular rate.
The dark navy blue lacquer on the dial resembles the body paint of American fighter planes from the 1930s
When Patek Philippe introduced the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time 5524G in 2015, it was highly controversial, as a Pilot watch seemed unusual in the manufactures portfolio. But also Patek Philippe developed hour angle watches for the military in the 1930s. However they soon disappeared with the upcoming technological progress (they can still be seen today in the Patek museum). The future worldtime watches remained in peoples memory and are nevertheless modern Pilot watches.
Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time
The Calibre 324 S C FUS from the Reference 5524G is equipped with the 1996 patented two-timezone-mechanism. In the meantime, more details have been added which proof the horological progress: Gyromax-balance with Spiromax-spring made of Silinvar, a light but strong, nearly frictionless, antimagnetic and corrosion-proof material, which improves the effectiveness by around 30 per cent.
The calibre 324 S C FUS with a two-timezone-mechanism
At Patek Philippe the timezones are divided into local-time and home-time. The local-time hands hides underneath the home-time hands, as longs as not in use. The baton-style steel hands and the numerals have a Superluminova coating, which is very typical for Pilot watches and offers readability in the dark. The dark navy blue lacquer on the dial resembles the body paint of American fighter planes in the 1930s.
The case is made of whitegold, not stainless steel
The case in white gold is supposed to be in the typical Calatrava style, but it is rather based on classical Pilot watches – little more rustic and square. It has therefore found its place in the collection of the ‘complicated watches’ rather then in the Calatrava collection. Anyway, it remains an exceptional timepiece at Patek Philippe.
The Calatrava case in the style of classical pilot-watches
By the way, we actually do become little younger when flying, but only one millisecond after 40 years of flying time.
The decade of the 1950s was a crucial period for music – and it was also a golden age for watchmaking. Cliff Richards produced his first songs in the notorious Abbey Road Studios as did the Beatles little later. Vacheron Constantin introduced their first automatic watch (Ref. 6073) in 1956 which today lives on in…
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with the observation that nothing is as constant as change. This thought resonates when looking at the new products presented by Patek Philippe. Because what Thierry Stern is presenting at Watches & Wonders is three hundred percent in the Patek Philippe tradition, and at the same time demonstrates a…
At first glance, the Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier looks like your archetypal Swiss watchmaking manufacture. Bright, modern white rooms play host to advanced machines, exquisite movement decorations are proudly displayed in all their glory, employees pose by solar panels citing sustainability pledges. Yet, beneath this spotless exterior lies a complex and highly sought-after entity within the…
Laurent Perves has a lot of topics to manage at Vacheron Constantin, from shopping experience and customer service to product design, innovation and communication. On top of that, he has recently been appointed International Sales Director, and is also responsible for the expansion of e-commerce, as well as the balancing act between offline & online…
An exciting and inspiring week comes to an end. We saw double moons, a candy-shop full of colourful timepieces and a Lamborghini for the wrist. We found out, that you can practice sustainable watchmaking with recycled PET bottles, that a power reserve of 65 days (world record) is possible and that a new trend colour…
From gracing the pages of Vogue to being flashed on Jennifer Anniston’s wrist in The Morning Show, the Chopard Alpine Eagle soared onto the watch scene back in 2019. Now, in 2022, attention-grabbing additions to the line are appearing in the form of the Chrono XL and Flying Tourbillon. But before discovering the watches for ourselves, let’s delve into what lies behind the Alpine…
When luxury steel sports watches with integrated bracelets suddenly appeared in the 1970s, it was not only Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe that caused a stir with their Royal Oak and Nautilus creations. Vacheron Constantin was also quick to recognize the trend – despite it not even being perceived as such at the time, but rather dismissed as outrageous…
Ever since the Wright brothers revolutionised aviation in 1903, watch manufactures have competed to produce the best, most precise, and most functional tool watches for the skies. Given the superlatives with which some manufactures gild themselves today, it is easy to lose track of who actually played what role and when. After all, there are…
Surely no horology house has ever entered into the vintage watch business in such a charming way: Jaeger-LeCoultre is introducing The Collectibles, a watch 'Bible' featuring its 17 most important models, dedicated primarily to the manufacture's collectors. But that's not all. Behind The Collectibles is another idea: offering up watch enthusiasts a carefully curated selection…
Switzerland's watch manufactures have presented their unique pieces for the Only Watch Auction 2021. The Only Watch initiative annually auctions off extraordinary timepieces, which have been produced solely for this event. The proceeds go towards research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This year's auction will take place on 6 November 2021 in cooperation with Christie's in…
Swisswatches recently headed over to Hamburg in order to see and celebrate the official launch of Tudor’s second ever mono-brand boutique. Our editor Catherine Bishop reports back on what the space has to offer Tudor clients from far and wide. When one hears Tudor, one thinks of David Beckham, the All Blacks, and of course…
In 2017, OMEGA introduced a series of new watches from their popular Seamaster Aqua Terra collection. To pay a special tribute to them, OMEGA hosted a glamorous gala-dinner at the prestige Palazzo Pisani Moretta in Venice, the place where the Seamaster history began. The Palazzo Pisani Moretta in Venice Not everyone is aware of the…
Cartier has once again turned to its archive for inspiration as it unveils the latest addition to its prestigious Cartier Privé collection: a revival of the little-known Tank à Guichets. This release continues the maison’s tradition of reimagining its most emblematic designs, following iterations of the Tank Normale, Tonneau, and Tortue in recent years –…