Baselworld 2015: Patek Philippe Unveils New Watch Collection
If 2014 was the year of Patek Philippe, the Swiss brand celebrating its 175th anniversary with the introduction of an incredibly popular collection including some stunning commemorative timepieces, the next twelve months will continue to be dominated by talk of its latest novelties. Patek Philippe unveiled a controversial Pilot watch, revamped a couple of favourites and all-in-all showed why the sea of watch collectors at Baselworld seemed to find refuge in its booth. Here are our personal highlights.
The most talked about watch at Baselworld 2015, the Patek Philippe Ref. 5524 Calatrava Pilot Travel Time pays tribute to the brand’s heritage in pilot’s watches. Unveiled in white gold, the new Calatrava Pilot Travel Time features the patented Travel Time mechanism, which enables frequent flyers to keep time in two different time zones, and is powered by the self-winding caliber 324 S C FUS movement with the innovative Spiromax® balance spring that we saw in last year’s Nautilus Travel Time.
Speaking of the Nautilus, Patek Philippe also unveiled a new edition of the Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711. In fact, if the Nautilus is now well established as one of the icons of the Patek Philippe collection, the design from Gerald Genta was just as shocking when it came out in 1976 as this year’s Ref. 5524 Calatrava Pilot Travel Time. Last year’s model comes updated with a beautifully warm rose gold case and bracelet and yummy chocolate brown guilloché dial with horizontal lines that provide superb reflections. A small detail collectors will appreciate is the new gold ring around the date.
If the Nautilus design shocked the purists in 1976, and the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time did the same this year, Patek Philippe kept those collectors happy with the Calatrava 5153R-001. This watch is perfection on the wrist. A classic dress watch, presented in a rose gold case measuring 38mm, it features hours, minutes and seconds as well as a useful date complication, all displayed on an elegant silvery opaline dial. The hand-guilloched center adds some texture to this watch and gives it character. The watch is powered by Caliber 324 S C, a mechanical self-winding movement that comes protected in a hunting-style case back so collectors can admire its beautiful finish.
Photo Credit: Haute Time. For more information, please visit the official Patek Philippe website. Follow Haute Time on Instagram to experience Baselworld 2015 in real-time and catch all of the new releases as they happen.