A Closer Look: Patek Philippe’s New Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Watch

With Watches & Wonders 2025 Geneva in full swing, Patek Philippe releases a new Calatrava Pilot Travel Time watch (Ref. 5524G-010) with stunning vintage undertones that is guaranteed to steal hearts — even if it does retail for $60,922.

Crafted in 18-karat gold, the 42mm watch is surprisingly alluring with its throwback style derived from the creamy ivory lacquered dial, khaki colored material strap and luminous blackened gold applied numerals.

The new Calatrava Pilot’s Travel Time  watch is inspired by the brand’s aviation watches of the first half of the 20^th century. While  pilot watches fell by the wayside in the latter part of the 20^th century, Patek Philippe wowed watch lovers 10 years ago when it re-introduced a new version in 2015 in white gold with a blue dial. Another version, in rose gold ensued, in 2018—with a brown dial. Now, the new ivory lacquered white gold version replaces the white gold/blue dial model.

Not only is the watch attractive thanks to its color scheme and beloved Pilot attributes like easy readability, but also because of its Travel Time function with second time zone and local date. Like its other Travel Time watches, this Patek Philippe watch boasts a skeleton hand that shows home time, and a solid hand that displays the local time. When not in use, the second-time-zone hand slips discreetly beneath the local hour hand. The watch also boasts an aperture on the dial for day and night indication of home time and local. A subsidiary dial indicates local date.

The watch is powered by the self-winding  26-330 S C FUS caliber built in house by the brand’s master watchmakers. The Travel Time system in this watch is incredibly easy to use thanks to the two pushers on the left side of the case that move the local-time hour hand forwards or backwards. Those pushers boast a patented safety system that prevents accidental re-setting of local time.

(This article by Roberta Naas first appeared on Forbes.com.)