2019 Revolution Awards: Best Invention

Every year, we get something like closure by racking our brains over, what else, the Revolution Awards. To grease our ruminations, this year we have also created a few categories to be decided by the public. Join us as we unveil an Award Winner every day, counting down to the New Year.

Best Invention
Patek Philippe Ref 5520P-001 Travel Time Alarm
Patek Philippe Ref 5520P-001 Travel Time Alarm

If there’s one Patek that ideally serves as proving grounds for new complications, I think it is the Calatrava Pilot with its 42 mm case. So, Patek Philippe presented this year the new Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Alarm 5520P which now features a mechanical alarm.

Patek Philippe Ref 5520P-001 Travel Time Alarm
Patek Philippe Ref 5520P-001 Travel Time Alarm

The heart of this piece is the new 574-component AL 30-660 S C FUS automatic caliber. It includes a double time zone, day and night indications and central seconds. Now, the new movement adds a 24-hour alarm, with a self-sufficient mechanism — it has its own barrel — whose hammer strikes a classic bell for a maximum time of 40 seconds. As the case of this Calatrava is water-resistant to 30 metres — and made out of dense platinum which isn’t the best transmitter of sound since dense materials absorb sound and affect its pitch and volume — to help the propagation of the sound waves, the bell is directly connected to the case, which serves a resonator. In all, it took over five years of development and four patents were needed for this new integrated calibre from Patek, which simply confirms that the ringing in our ears is not only the chiming of the 5520P, but the ever-present reminder of the awe and romanticism that exudes from every high complication Patek Philippe.

Patek Philippe Ref 5520P-001 Travel Time Alarm
Patek Philippe Ref 5520P-001 Travel Time Alarm
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