Among the eleven new watches debuted by Patek Philippe during Watches and Wonders, one debut in particular stands out for its technical advancement while others enliven existing collections with new colors, new casual (denim) straps, new case metals or, for one highlight, a sleek new bracelet.
World Timer localizes
The newest Patek Philippe World Time model joins the full collection after initially debuting as a limited edition last year during the Patek Philippe Grand Exhibition Watch Art Tokyo 2023.
The watch, Ref. 5330G-001, now displays a date display synchronized with local time, which is a patented world-first and a notably useful travel function.
Patek Philippe watchmakers have added a specialized differential system to the watch’s automatic movement. The resulting change means the local date will appear along the edge of the dial, indicated with a transparent glass hand (a first for Patek Philippe) with a red tip.
The local time is the time zone selected at 12 o’clock and indicated by the center hands.
With its 40mm white gold case and handsome blue-grey opaline dial (with a block-pattern carbon center), the dressy model allows the wearer to simply press the pusher at 10 o’clock to move the move the local time zone indicated on the watch in one-hour increments.
With this simple gesture, the traveller can both see the local time while also noting the time differences globally, as seen on the multi-city dial indicator.
Patek Philippe displayed the new World Time Reference Ref. 5330G-001 with a new denim weave strap, a casual bracelet also seen on other debuts. Price: $76,594.
Golden Ellipse bracelet
Another head-turner at the Patek Philippe exhibition in Geneva was the supple new gold chain bracelet attached to the always elegant Golden Ellipse, Reference 5738/1R.
While often attached to various precious metal bracelets since its debut in 1968, the Golden Ellipse has in recent years been primarily a leather strap model, in part due to the difficulty in sizing the bracelet at the point of sale.
Patek Philippe explains that the new bracelet is the result of fifteen years of work. It is made of 18-karat hand-polished rose gold with a new, patented construction made of 363 parts, including more than 300 links, assembled manually.
The new clasp (above), with its engraved cover, offers a choice of three adjustment notches.
The bracelet debuts attached to a new rose gold edition of the 34.5mm-by-39.5mm fashion icon. For the debut Patek Philippe created a new sunburst ebony black dial with applied baton-type hour-markers and thin rose-gold hands.
Inside, Patek Philippe fits its celebrated self-winding caliber 240, an ultra-thin movement with off-center 22-karat gold mini-rotor. The movement’s thin profile means the Golden Ellipse Reference 5738 is now the slimmest watch in the Patek Philippe regular collection. Price: $60,097.
Other 2024 Patek Philippe debuts include:
A new dial on the Twenty~4 Reference 4910/1201R-010 ($47,607, pictured above) now displays eye-catching concentric waves coated with dozens of layers of translucent lacquer.
A new edition of the Patek Philippe Nautilus Flyback Chronograph. The newest, Reference 5980/60G-001 ($78,951), revisits the hot sports model in white gold with a blue-gray opaline dial. Patek Philippe will deliver two matching straps with each watch.
One is a blue-gray calfskin embossed with a denim motif edged with contrasting white hand-stitching (above) and the other is a blue-grey composite in a fabric motif.
The new Aquanaut Luce Haute Joaillerie Reference 5268/461G-001 ($235,674, pictured above) gleams in white gold set with diamonds and blue sapphires within snow and baguette settings.
On the rounded octagonal bezel, baguette-cut sapphires gradate from light blue to dark blue. Inside is Caliber 26-330 S, a self-winding movement visible through the sapphire-crystal back.
See all the 2024 debuts from Patek Philippe here.
Five Year Warranty
Also at Watches and Wonders 2024, Patek Philippe announced that for all new Patek Philippe watches sold as of May 1, 2024, the duration of the Patek Philippe warranty increases from two years to five years, counting from the date of purchase.
Two more versions are in cased in ceramic. One is entirely navy blue with a blue dial while the other is a familiar Black Magic style (above) known to Hublot collectors. The watch’s case, bracelet and dial are black, which makes it the first Big Bang Black Magic with a 38mm diameter (with an exception within the Classic Fusion series.)
The white gold stand is decorated with a motif inspired by reeds and is attached to an oval base in silver obsidian. Inside Patek Philippe fits a manually wound movement with small seconds.
