Patek Philippe - Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Ref. 7234G-001

Patek Philippe is extending its family of pilot-style with the new Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Ref. 7234G. Price and specs.

Patek Philippe is extending its family of pilot-style watches with the new Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Ref. 7234G-001 whose distinctive, and somehow controversial, design was introduced five years ago with the Ref. 5524G that took inspiration from the manufacture’s aviator's watches from the 1930s that can be seen at the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. 

That first model, housed in a 42 mm white gold case framing a blue dial, was followed in 2018 by Ref. 5524R in rose gold with brown dial as well as by Ref. 7234R, a rose-gold model in a medium format targeted to Ladies and men who prefer somewhat smaller watches.  

The new Ref. 7234G-001 completes the offering with a medium format version (37.5 mm x 10.78 mm) in white gold.

Its blue lacquered dial offers excellent legibility thanks to the applied white-gold numerals filled  with a white luminous coating and broad luminous baton hands made of blued white gold. 

The self-winding caliber 324 S C FUS and its unidirectional winding central rotor in 21K gold are visible through the sapphire crystal case back. Beating at the frequency of 4 Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour), it offers a power reserve of 35 to 45 hours.

Consisting of 294 parts, this movement features the practical Travel Time mechanism for displaying a second time zone. This easily operable system was patented by Patek Philippe in 1959 and 1996. It is characterized by two hour hands from the center. The local-time hour hand can be adjusted via the two pushers in the left-hand case flank, moving the luminous local-time hour hand clockwise (lower pusher) or counterclockwise (upper pusher) in one-hour increments. 

The skeletonized hour hand continues to indicate home time. Both time zones have separate day/night indicators (LOCAL window at 9 o'clock for local time, HOME window at 3 o'clock for home time) to simplify time setting. 

The two time-zone pushers are equipped with a patented safety system that prevents unintended adjustments of the local time setting. Before they can be actuated, they must be unlocked with a quarter turn, which is simplified by delicate fluting. Afterwards, they must be locked again with a quarter turn in the opposite direction. The watch is water resistant to 30 metres / 100 feet.

The analog date at 6 o'clock shows the date in three-day increments to improve legibility without cluttering the scale. A useful feature for travelers is that the date is always synchronized with local time because the time-zone pushers also increment or decrement the date if the local time hour hand passes midnight either clockwise or counterclockwise.

Matched to a navy blue calfskin strap secured with a clevis prong buckle in white gold and delivered with a second calfskin strap in vintage brown, the new Patek Philippe Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Ref. 7234G-001 has a price of Euro 42,890.

The current pilot line now includes the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time with two time zones in white or rose gold and with two case sizes (42 mm and 37.5 mm) as well as the Alarm Travel Time Ref. 5520P, a grand complication with a 24-hour alarm. A number of limited editions were also released in the past years.  patek.com