SuitbertW
2411
*Basel 2007* New Ref. 4934
New Ref. 4934
Press release
Complicated watches
Patek Philippe Geneva
April 2007
Calatrava Travel Time: the classic for the well-traveled lady
Women are on the go, traveling for work and with their families. While away, they want to
keep in touch with friends and loved ones at home. For them, Patek Philippe introduces a
watch that already counts as a classic in the men’s collection. Now, a splendidly feminine
version of the Calatrava Travel Time, Ref. 4934, will capture the hearts of women everywhere.
The new traveler’s companion for women is a true gem that unites three venerable traditions of the
eminent watchmaking company in Geneva: the classic Calatrava silhouette, the complication of a
movement that simultaneously displays the time in two zones, and the gem setter’s art that crowns
the timepiece with superb, hand-selected diamonds. The Ref. 4934 expands Patek Philippe’s
collection of complicated ladies’ watches, but the new degree of sophistication is not limited to the
mechanical movement. It also comes to the fore in the extravagant mother-of-pearl dial. The ability
to fashion this shimmering natural material into dials is shared by only a handful of master
craftspeople.
Browsing through time
To tell the time at the owner’s present location and concurrently at her permanent residence, the
Calatrava Travel Time possesses two separate hour hands that move synchronously: a prominent
hand for local time and a skeletonized one for home time. It is also easy to see whether it is night or
day at home, thanks to the convenient 24-hour dial at 12 o’clock. Now that traveling across 24 time
zones has become commonplace for many people, the Calatrava Travel Time belongs to the
category of useful complications with relevance to the owner’s everyday life; it shows home time and
local time at a glance.
Refined elegance with gold, diamonds and mother of pearl
This technically complex function presents itself in a particularly charming way in the Calatrava
Travel Time for ladies. The 18K white- or rose-gold case in the classic Calatrava style has two push
pieces on the left-hand side, allowing the local hour hand to be moved forward or backward. Their
tapered, extended shape creates a ridge on the side of the case that is mirrored on the opposite
side by the crown protectors, giving the watch a visually balanced, symmetrical look.
Its elegance is showcased by the diamond-set bezel. It sparkles with the fire of 48 flawless Top
Wesselton diamonds totaling about 1.02 carats, creating a sparkling aura of eternity. The everchanging
luster of the genuine mother-of-pearl dial adds a further dimension to the sensuous appeal
of this watch. It is tinted gray/blue for the white-gold case and has two white mother-of-pearl
subsidiary dials for the small seconds and the 24-hour display; the rose-gold version has a brownhued
mother-of-pearl dial with two champagne-tinted subsidiary dials. The legibility of the displays is
enhance by crisp railway-track scales on the main dial and both subdials, large Roman numerals at
the periphery, and small Arabic numbers in the subdials. The hands are 18K gold to match the case.
To provide contrast, the skeletonized home hour hands are black nickel-plated in the white-gold
model and sandblasted rose in the rose-gold version.
The Calatrava Travel Time is worn on an alligator strap that matches the case: matte dark brown
with an 18K rose-gold prong buckle for the rose-gold model and matte white with an 18K white-gold
buckle for the white-gold model.
A moving masterpiece
The hands of the Calatrava Travel Time are driven by the manually wound caliber 215 PS FUS
movement which consists of 178 superbly finished individual parts. It exhibits all of the quality
features that characterize Patek Philippe movements, such as beveled steel parts and bridges, steel
pinions with hand-polished leaves, carefully applied decorative patterns on the main plate and
bridges, and the Gyromax balance invented and patented by Patek Philippe. It beats at a rate of
28,800 semi-oscillations per hour (4 Hz) to assure rate stability. The many complex work steps and
inspections required to assemble this movement take several months to complete.
The Calatrava Travel Time – how it works
At the owner’s permanent place of residence – the home time zone – the two hour hands are
superposed. En route, the local hour hand is set to the time at the destination with either of the two
push pieces on the left-hand side in the caseband. The push piece at 8 o’clock is pressed once for
each traversed time zone on an eastbound trip. The push piece at 10 o’clock has the same function
for westbound trips. Since the local-hour hand is uncoupled from the movement during this
adjustment process, the progression of the minute and seconds hands is not affected and the hometime
hand remains in its position as well. If both push pieces are inadvertently pressed at the same
time, a special mechanism prevents damage to the movement by responding only to the actuation
of the forward push piece at 8 o’clock.
When the time is set with the pulled winding crown, the two large hour hands, the minute hand, and
the small 24-hour hand will move simultaneously. During this process, a special coupling
arrangement assures that the position of the two hour hands relative to one another remains
unchanged.
Patek Philippe’s new Calatrava Travel Time is an attractive innovation in the segment of
complicated mechanical watches for ladies. With its precious details and utility, it is the ideal
companion for the discerning woman.
Greetings from Basel
Suitbert
