A travel watch not only evokes adventure and romance, but remains useful and relevant even when you’re stuck at home — especially for those regularly communicating with people in other time zones. The new Patek Philippe Travel Time Ref.7234G, a sporty Calatrava Pilot with roots going back to the 1930s, is highly pragmatic but refined to the nth degree. It has familiar features but feels even more practical than ever in a smaller size.
Patek PhilippeThe Ref.5524, which debuted in 2015 with the same functionality, aesthetics and movement (324 SC FUS) as the new Ref.7234G model, measures a bold 42mm. At 37.5mm, the new Calatrava Pilot Travel Time is being marketed for men or women as “medium-sized,” and was originally released in 2019 as a limited edition with a different shade of blue dial and a steel case. (The new model has a white gold case and dark blue dial.)
With a complicated and beautiful automatic movement visible through the case back, the Travel Time is notable for its clever functionality. Like a GMT watch, a second time zone is displayed via a fourth hand on the dial — here it’s the skeletonized one. The main time can then be easily adjusted backward or forward via screw-down pushers on the case side, and small round apertures on the dial indicate day (white) or night (black) for each time zone. The date (synchronized with the main time) can also be adjusted easily in both directions.
Unlike the steel version that came before it, the white gold Ref.7234g isn’t limited, and comes with two calfskin straps for a price of $48,295.