Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph – 5990-1A

Watch design legend Gerald Genta created the Nautilus in the mid-1970s. I think he'd be in total approval of this incarnation of his masterpiece. The Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph 5990-1A slims down the modern Nautilus design, taking this luxury watch back to its roots without sacrificing any of the extra functionality you get from the dual-complication movement.
Inside the Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph – 5990-1A , you'll find Patek Philippe's Caliber CH 28-520 C FUS. As beautiful as any movement created by the Patek Philippe manufacture, the CH 28-520 C FUS combines two previously separate complications: travel time, and a self-winding chronograph. The dual-time function is set using the screw-down crown, and operated with forward and retrograde pushers on the left-hand side of the case.
The realisation of the dual-time function is quite gorgeous, and will be familiar to readers who have used an Aquanaut Travel Time , or seen one in action. The Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph 5990-1A has a pair of hour hands, which can be superposed to register home time only. However, once the dual-time function is activated, by setting the local time in your destination using the left-hand pushers, these two hour hands register the local time and the reference home time.
The flyback chronograph function is operated using the two pushers on the right-hand side of the case, above and below the three-position locking crown. The upper pushpiece is for starting and stopping the chrono, and the lower resets or operates the flyback.
A 'flyback' chrono is one in which the reset and restart operations are combined in a single button-push: so if you're timing an event in which consecutive times must be logged rapidly and accurately, you can get all the measurements you need without stopping the mechanism. The chrono continues timing while the flyback button is pushed, returning the second, third, and so on timings to the right position for you to get accurate measurements each time. On the Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph 5990-1A , pressing just the flyback pusher at 4 o'clock will activate the flyback effect. However, if you first stop the chrono using the start/stop pusher at two o'clock, the four o'clock pusher becomes a reset button.
The movement also has a date-by-hand in a subdial at 12 o'clock, with a date correction pusher concealed on the case between 12 and 1 o'clock. Local and home time day/night indicators are positioned at 9 and 3 o'clock.
That's a lot of functionality to fit into a 40.5 mm case, which, as noted, is noticeably slimmer than previous modern incarnations of Gerald Genta's design . In part, this is thanks to the movement, which is less than 7 mm in thickness. The overall design of the Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph helps, too. The local time advance/retrograde pushpieces are beautifully tailored to the lines of Genta's original case, sweeping out from the lugs in an unbroken curve.
The dial, another famous element of Gerald Genta's 1976 design , retains its horizontal gradations, which add a pleasing depth and interplay of texture to the face. Hour markers are white gold baguettes, applied with lume. The solid hour hand is lumed (as is the minute hand), but the skeletonised home hand is not.
The bracelet is stainless steel, with a double-fold Nautilus clasp. The crystal is sapphire glass, and the case is stainless steel. The watch is water resistant to 100 m.
The Nautilus has always been Patek Philippe's signature 'modern' luxury watch, and its sleek, slick lines are appreciated by a number of appropriately modern stars. Brad Pitt loves the Nautilus. Tony Fadell, one of the creators of the iPod, wears one. Orlando Bloom's been snapped with one on his wrist too. Oh, and celebrity watch-nerd Ed Sheeran routinely rocks a Nautilus in press shots. Buy one of these, and you're not just buying a piece of history. You're buying a modern-day obsession.
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