Review: Patek Philippe Ref. 5520P-001 Alarm Travel Time

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Ref 5520P-001 Alarm Travel Time

Patek Philippe released the new self-winding grand complication that adds a 24-hour alarm to its exclusive Travel Time display with two time zones; the alarm signal is struck by a hammer on a classic gong The new Ref.

5520P-001 Alarm Travel Time.

The case and dial

At first sight, the Ref 5520P-001 Alarm Travel Time is reminiscent of another Patek Philippe watch launched in 2015: the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Inspired by the heyday of aviation, that model has two time zones and is currently available in two versions, the Ref.

5524 men’s wristwatch and the Ref 7234 for ladies Patek Philippe adopted the characteristic aviators’ style of the case as well as the nearly identical dimensions.

This was possible even though the new movement is much more complex With a tremendous effort, the engineers were able to further miniaturize the components and subassemblies With a diameter of 422 mm and a height of 1157 mm as well as an integrated bezel and integrated lugs, the case is cold-formed with a high-tonnage press from a blank in platinum, the most precious noble metal but also the one that is most difficult to machine.

The forming process is followed by precision machining as well as painstaking and elaborate polishing in the manufacturer’s ateliers The smooth bezel is slightly beveled while the caseband merges with the slightly curved lugs Like all Patek Philippe platinum watches, the Alarm Travel Time is set with a diamond in the case flank at 6 o’clock.

With its technical appeal and elegance, the dial assures optimized readability and underscores its provenance in the aviators’ watch segment The large applied Arabic numerals and the broad baton hands – all in white gold with a white Superluminova coating – contrast well against the sunburst ebony black background The skeletonized home-time hour hand rotates discreetly on a second plane, as is the case with all Travel Time watches.

The white seconds hand moves its tip along a railway track minute scale with five-minute dots coated with Superluminova The small white hand in the subdial at 6 o’clock indicates the date along a scale from 1 to 31; the “1” is red to accentuate the first day of a month A thin, flat sapphire-crystal glass improves the sonority of the alarm melody.

In the interest of visual balance, the crown at 4 o’clock has the same design as the three fluted crowns but does not need a safety interlock

The watch is worn on a matte black calfskin strap with contrast stitching that matches the dial The strap is secured with a platinum clevis prong buckle; its design is reserved for aviators’ timepieces.

The complication challenge

When Patek Philippe’s engineers were asked to develop a new alarm mechanism and to combine it with the Travel Time concept’s two-time-zone arrangement, one objective was to make the watch as thin as possible Thus, they opted for an integrated movement which requires less height than a caliber with an additional module but is []

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