New From Basel | Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5990

Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph: A new complication and its cult-status design make this the perfect wristwatch for our era.With this Baselworld debut, Patek Philippe is expanding its collection of complicated Nautilus models, endowing the chronograph with the Travel Time function that indicates the time in two different time zones at a single glace. The new watch combines two highly popular complications and features additional functions for enhanced everyday convenience.For nearly forty years now, the casually elegant Nautilus has enjoyed iconic status. it melds superb functionality with impressive ruggedness. The physique and resilience of its case have always been among its key characteristics. The integration of horological complications such as an analog date and a moon-phase display boosted its appeal, and in 2006, when Patek Philippe presented the first Nautilus chronograph, it became clear that this timekeeping instrument is what physically active watch connoisseurs had been waiting for. Now, the coveted chronograph has been enriched with the useful Travel Time function as reflected in the name Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph.For journeys through time: The display of a second time zone and the chronograph are two complications that aptly symbolize personal mobility and the active lifestyles of our era: at home, all around the world, but always with a close eye on home. In the Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph, this useful function is complemented with two separate day/night indications, labeled LOCAL and HOME, that display the time of day in the respective zones. They reduce the likelihood of unintentionally calling loved ones at home in the middle of the night.

The dial: new and decidedly Nautilus: The new time zone function also has an impact on the dial, which presents the typical Nautilus style in a new arrangement. The dial is black with a slight bright-dark gradation from the middle to the periphery and features the familiar horizontally embossed Nautilus pattern accentuated with ten applied luminous hour markers in 18K white gold. Positioned slightly below the center axis, the day/night indicators are new elements: one at 9 o’clock for local time as indicated by the luminous hour hand, and the other at 3 o’clock for home time represented by the skeletonized hour hand. The new analog date at 12 o’clock and the new 60-minute chronograph counter at 6 o’clock round off the dial. 

Yet another new Patek Philippe movement: The date display coupled with local time (originally an aperture date at 3 o’clock in the Ref. 5980 Nautilus chronograph model) has been repositioned to 12 o’clock as an analog date, and the monocounter at 6 o’clock was converted into a 60-minute counter. This metamorphosis was implemented with 47 additional parts. Nonetheless, the movement is merely 0.3mm higher than its predecessor. Not least, this is due to the escapement in which the voluminous overcoiled Breguet balance spring was replaced with the patented Patek Philippe Spiromax hairspring made of Silinvar. Thanks t its intelligent geometry, it oscillates in one plane- yet symmetrically and isochronously.