FEATURE

Luxury With Utility: 4 Patek Philippe Watches with “Everyday” Complications


Patek Philippe is not all about high-end chronographs, perpetual calendars, and repeaters; the brand also offers many complicated timepieces that have plenty of everyday utility. We present a few of them here, in this feature from the WatchTime archives.

1. SECOND TIME ZONE: CALATRAVA PILOT TRAVEL TIME REFERENCE 5524G

Patek Philippe Ref. 5524G
Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Ref. 5524G

Whether for a winter vacation in Canada or a business trip to Japan, a well-thought-out time-zone function is very useful in our mobile era, when people cross time zones almost as often as their grandparents crossed the street. The time-zone indicator is even more useful when it’s complemented by additional displays, such as a day-night indicator or a date display. This is offered by the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time, which debuted in 2015. From a functional point of view, this watch adds another practical feature: not only is there an alternately blue and white day-night indicator for home time, there’s also an identical day-night display for local time, i.e., wherever in the world the wearer happens to be at the moment. The date is shown by a hand on a large subdial, which gives the face an attractive, symmetrical look. Finely decorated self-winding manufacture Caliber 324 S C FUS and a handsome 42-mm gold case lend a luxurious aura to this sportily designed pilots’ watch. ($47,630)

2. WORLD-TIME DISPLAY: WORLD-TIME WATCH REFERENCE 5230G

Patek Philippe Ref. 5230G
Patek Philippe World Time Watch Ref. 5230G

If you want to keep an eye on the time in several surfing regions or at various business locations, you need a watch that can simultaneously show the time in more than one time zone. Most such timepieces show the hour in the Earth’s 24 standard (full-hour) time zones. A good example is Patek Philippe’s world-time watch, which debuted in 1937 and has been released over the decades in numerous stylistic variations. The newest model comes with a 38.5-mm white- or rose-gold case. Individually shaped and boldly angular hands rotate above the dial, which is elaborately guilloché-embellished and anthracite colored near the center. This latest incarnation preserves the simplicity of time setting: the traveler brings the desired time zone to the top of the dial by pressing the push-piece at the 10. Meanwhile, the 24-hour ring and the openwork hour hand jump along to stay in synchrony so all of the times are correct after the user has set the watch for a new time zone. The central hour and minutes hands can be repositioned by pulling the crown outward and turning it: this causes only the 24-hour ring to turn along with the hands because the desired reference location should logically remain unchanged. As an aid to orientation, the nighttime hours from 6 pm to 6 am are printed against a black background on the hour ring. The functions are controlled by automatic Caliber 240 HU, for which the suffix “HU” stands for heure universelle, i.e., universal time. ($47,630)

3. ANNUAL CALENDAR: REFERENCE 5396G

Patek Philippe Ref 5396G Annual Calendar
Patek Philippe Ref 5396G Annual Calendar

Patek Philippe celebrated the 20th anniversary of its invention by debuting two variations of annual calendar Reference 5396 in 2016. This complication is only 20 years old because it was developed several decades after the premiere of its big brother, the perpetual calendar. The mechanism takes into account the various lengths of 11 months throughout the year, but requires manual correction on the last evening of February. Patek Philippe provides the usual indicators for the date, the day of the week, and the month, along with a moon-phase display and a 24-hour indicator that share a subdial at 6. This 38.5- mm watch is available in white gold with a gray dial or in rose gold with a silvery white face. Each variation encases self-winding manufacture Caliber 324 S QA LU 24H/303. ($47,970)

4. CHRONOGRAPH: REFERENCE 5170R

Patek Philippe Ref. 5170R chronograph
Patek Philippe Chronograph Ref. 5170R

If, rather than tallying the duration of your own marathon runs, you prefer to time a journey by rail or by car, then the inclusion of a chronograph function in an elegant watch like this one is the right combination for you. With the debut in 2009 of hand-wound Caliber CH 29- 535 PS, Patek Philippe launched its first manufacture, serially produced chronograph movement without other additional functions. This caliber premiered in a ladies’ watch, followed one year later by its debut in yellow-gold Reference 5170J for men. The latter was subsequently augmented by white-gold versions. Rose-gold variations with black or classical silver-colored dials followed in 2016. Each model has a sleekly styled 39.4-mm-diameter case and a face with subdials positioned just south of the dial’s equator. Alongside these “simple” chronographs, Patek Philippe also offers chronograph watches with a split-seconds function, annual calendar, perpetual calendar, second time zone, and world-time indicator. ($81,080)

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No Responses to “Luxury With Utility: 4 Patek Philippe Watches with “Everyday” Complications”

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  1. Scott Pedersen

    I wish some of these “dress” watches were rated to at least 100m water resistance. They would be so much more functional. A $50K Patek swimming would be fun!

    Reply
  2. Vitus Gottlieb

    I am the happy owner of three PP and might be working on bying myself a “Every day calender PP “.

    Reply
  3. The 5170 is an everyday complication – you’re kidding, right? The 5930 is a World Timer Vertical Clutch Flyback, which is far more useful. Same for the 5990 or any of the other CH28 based watches. The CH29 is to stare at on occasion and keep safe in your home. More of a collector watch, than a field watch.

    Reply
  4. Heinz Klausner

    I love the World Time Watches by Patek Philippe. But I am wondering why nobody mentions the fact, that because of summer time changes it isn’t possible to simply push the push-piece at the 10 to get the exact time from another town. For example: its now 4.30 pm in Sydney. My PP 5131 shows 7.30 pm for Paris. But the exact time for Paris is 6.30! So the real time is mostly 1 hour behind. Auckland NZ would work exactly.
    Best regards,
    Heinz

    Reply
  5. Gerry Dimatos

    To paraphrase a song made for Mercedes Benz:
    “Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Patek Phillipe”…
    I simply must have one of these watches one day…
    From Gerry Dimatos

    Reply
  6. 5170R is a strictly collectors watch that should probably never leave the house. Patek makes the CH 28-520 for “in the field” use that is armed with a Vertical Clutch, Flyback, and Auto. This makes it an ideal everyday watch, and there are several models that use it. Why you would choose a CH 27 based watch over the CH 28 is beyond me.

    Reply
  7. Tan NGUYEN

    Why you have failed to mention Patek Philippe Annual Calendar 5960/1A with stainless steel bracelet ? This is the most useful Patel for every day use !!

    Reply
  8. João Bosco - webRelogio

    Fantastic selection. I would include the Patek Philippe travel in the classical, dress watch version.

    Reply
  9. Sam Shamansky

    Any Patek customers had a positive experience with either their customer service or repair department lately? As an owner since 1978 I have lost faith in them completely. They don’t communicate, don’t repair competently, and take forever to finish even the simplest of projects. Anyone have a different experience?

    Reply
    • Tan NGUYEN

      Smart comment Peter ! Alex, you should give PP 5960 a fair go.

      Reply
  10. Dear Alexander,
    Is Patek Philippe World Time Watch Ref. 5230G able to display the correct time especially with countries in south hemisphere?
    As an example, when we are in France with summer time, we are in winter time in Brazil. Regarding a map of the world, there is a difference of 4 hours between Paris and Sao Paulo but due to summer/winter period we have to take care and to add or remove one our. That means that we can have 3 hours difference between France and Brazil or 4 or 5 linked to the period of the year we are considering.

    Regards.
    JMR

    Reply
    • Burt Rothberg

      I don’t believe there is any mechanical watch that do all that. Same for countries that are on the half hour separation. If you need that kind of complex circuitry, get an electronic watch.

      Reply
      • Michael Hartmann

        As to summer time or daylight savings time, you can see that in the Glasshütte Original Senator Cosmopolite. And it has half an hour (India and Afghanistan) and 3/4 hours (Nepal). The steel watch is a “reasonable” 20,000+. I want it!
        You can also get 37 Time zones with the VACHERON CONSTANTIN OVERSEAS WORLDTIMER, but not summer daylight time.

        Reply
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