After the resounding success of last year’s Aquanaut Luce models, with their blue-grey dial and rose gold cases, Patek Philippe is further expanding on the idea. The Luce watches from last year were among my favorite from the show, so seeing another is a welcome treat for me. This year, Patek is introducing the Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time 5269R, a quartz-powered model with a novel travel-time function.
The new solid rose-gold Aquanaut Travel Time 5269R offers a smaller profile than 40.8mm mechanical Aquanaut Travel Time models and in fact delivers the smallest Aquanaut case without gems. At 38.8mm in diameter, it’s not a small watch, hitting close to that 39mm that many hold as perfect. Thanks to the quartz movement, it measures just 8.77mm (about 1.5mm thinner than those mechanical models). Despite having a screw-down crown, water resistance is limited to 30m, perhaps the Achilles heel of the Aquanaut collection. While it seems like a sporty watch, it really doesn’t deliver go-anywhere durability. The watch gets a sapphire crystal and a solid rose gold case back with the signature fitted Aquanaut strap that echoes the dial pattern and has a patented rose gold folding clasp with four safety catches. All that means a watch that will sit undoubtedly well on the wrist — and stay there.
The dial is classic Aquanaut, with the opaline blue-grey of the previous Luce models (isn’t it beautiful?) and the globe-like embossed lines that recall longitude and latitude. Around the central patterned dial is a printed gold minute track with lumed square plots. The hands and applied Arabic numerals are crafted from the same rose gold as the case. Of particular note is the “HOME” text at 6 o’clock. Beneath it, you’ll see a small aperture that serves as a day/night indicator for the home time, indicated by the additional white hour hand. Unlike every other travel time watch offered by PP, all adjustments are done via the crown, with the second position allowing for setting the local time forward or backward in one-hour increments. This is one of the cleaner Travel Time dials offered by the brand, most of which are cluttered with other indicators and displays (except, perhaps, for the Calatrava 24-hour watch from last year), and I’m here for it. If I could take it a step further, I’d get rid of the seconds hand, or at least render it in rose gold.
The Patek Philippe Caliber E 23-250 S FUS 24H is believed to be an entirely new quartz caliber for the brand, bringing simplified travel time functionality to the catalog in lieu of the extra pushers and correctors that most Patek travel times get. It probably comes as no surprise that Patty P doesn’t mess about with its quartz calibers. As is plain to see, you can barely tell this is a quartz movement. It’s got crisp striping, gold engraved text, and no plastic parts. The 96-component movement has 9 jewels and a 3-year battery life. Accuracy is quoted at +127/-18 seconds per year. Considering Citizen and others are producing quartz movements that operate in the 10s/year range, this is a little disappointing.
Undoubtedly, some will bemoan that this is a quartz model and not a refinement of the mechanical Aquanaut travel time. But I don’t think the appeal here can be denied: a compact, simple, luxurious travel watch with the indisputable accuracy of quartz and the high-end craftsmanship we expect from Patek Philippe. If anything, I would have preferred a display caseback. The Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time 5269R-001 is priced at $35,350 USD (about half the price of the rose gold mechanical Aquanaut Travel Time). For more information, please visit the Patek Philippe website.
