Patek Philippe is considered by many to be the world’s greatest watchmaker—and at Watches & Wonders 2024, the brand’s stunning new releases lived up to that reputation handily.
Back in the early 1930s, Patek adopted Louis Cottier’s world time movement into wristwatch form, developing the references 515 HU, 96 HU, and 1415. However, it was with the debut of the ref. 2523 within the maison’s catalog in the 1950s that Cottier’s system really came into its own: In addition to the 24-hour city ring in each of the aforementioned models, the 2523’s second crown meant that one could change time zones with ease, making tracking a second zone a cinch.
The new ref. 5330G-001 follows in the 2523’s footsteps, but adds some modern conveniences: Namely, automatic winding and the addition of a date display linked to local time. Said date is indicated via a fourth pointer hand made of glass with a red lacquer hammer tip, which results in less disturbance to the information-packed dial. The opaline center dial, meanwhile, is shaded in blue-gray with a “carbon” motif—a unique texture that helps give the watch a feeling of depth. A central 24-hour ring divided into day and night halves is itself surrounded with the watch’s 23-city ring, which features a red dot demarcation at the International Date Line.
Housed in a polished white gold case measuring 40 millimeters wide, the ref. 5330G-001 is a distinctly dressy proposition—but actuate the pusher at 10 o’clock, and the local time/time zone jumps in one-hour increments, instantly updating the watch to your current location and simultaneously allowing you to track the time in the rest of the world. Utilitarian and beautiful, it’s the type of timepiece that, if looked after, will provide generations of faithful service.
Of course, the ref. 5330G-001 wasn’t the only new model to debut this week. Patek is perhaps best known among modern audiences for its Gérald Genta-designed Nautilus luxury sports watch, which has figured in the catalog since 1976. This year, it debuted the new ref. 5980/60G, a 40.5 millimeters white gold iteration with a flyback chronograph complication, an opaline blue-grey dial, and a cool, blue-gray denim-patterned calfskin strap. Unlike most other chronographs, the ref. 5330G-001 utilized a single-counter design in which all chronograph displays are superimposed in a single totalizer above 6 o’clock.
On the ultra-complicated end of things for which Patek is well known, there’s the fresh-looking ref. 5236P-010, a 41.3 millimeters perpetual calendar in platinum with a stunning, vintage-inspired opaline rose-gilt dial with applied white gold hands and hour markers. Introduced in 2021 as the ref. 5236P-001 with a handsome blue dial, the new version boasts the same complication: Namely, an in-line perpetual calendar with day, date, and month displayed in a row below 12 o’clock. A large moonphase aperture with running seconds is situated above 6 o’clock, while a day/night indicator and leap year indicator are located at 8 o’clock and 4 o’clock, respectively. Powered by the Patek Philippe Calibre 31-260 PS QL automatic movement with micro-rotor, it’s precisely the type of complicated fare for which the maison has become so beloved since its inception.
But Patek doesn’t only do complicated watchmaking—on the contrary, its Golden Ellipse collection, which debuted in the late 1960s, embodies the very essence of elegant, minimalist design. Based upon the Golden Ratio and elliptical in shape, the Golden Ellipse featured, in addition to more conventional straps, several mesh-like bracelets in precious metals up through the early 1980s.
Now, Patek is pairing such a bracelet, in rose gold, to its large-sized reference 5738, recalling the golden age of the collection in the 1970s. Featuring a sunburst ebony dial with applied rose gold indices and rose gold hands, its 34.5 millimeters case houses the automatic Calibre 240 and a black onyx cabochon crown. The pièce de résistance, of course, is the svelte bracelet: Comprising over 300 hand-mounted individual links, it’s a complete head-turner of a feature that elevates the look of the watch from dressy to divine.