Luce Travel Time (ref 5269/200R) (All photos: Patek Philippe)
In 1976, Patek Philippe defined its own vision of casual elegance by launching the famous Nautilus, and in 1997, reaffirmed its ability to innovate by unveiling another high-end sporty watch, the Aquanaut, which also became a cult model. The case and the rounded octagonal bezels of these creations stand out owing to their instantly recognisable shape and alternation of polished steel and satin-brushed finishes, while the dial and strap in matching colours, embellished with an embossed checkerboard pattern, lend the watches a dynamic touch.
The Aquanaut Luce was introduced in 2004, catering for Patek’s growing legion of female fans. The Luce line has been endowed with three new models for 2021 — a quartz model in steel, an automatic with a larger diameter and a new travel watch.
The flagship Luce (ref 5067) gets an enlarged diameter of 38.8mm and an integrated strap that follows the curvature of the case and lugs. The new Aquanaut Luce (ref 5267/200A) comes in black, white and khaki green, while the embossed dial throws into relief the white gold applied Arabic numerals and baton-style, luminescent hands. The watch has the Patek Philippe calibre E 23-250 S C quartz movement and will replace all previous ref 5067 models.
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The Luce with a self-winding mechanical movement has also been updated with a larger diameter of 38.8mm and features a rose gold case, diamond-studded bezel and rose gold applied Arabic numerals and hands, while the date appears in an aperture at 3 o’clock.
The updated ref 5268/200R-001 is powered by the calibre 26-330 S C self-winding movement, whose stop-seconds device stops the balance when the crown is pulled, enabling the user to set the time down to the second.
Few of us are travelling now, but take heart — another use of the new Luce Travel Time’s (ref 5269/200R) dual-time-zone system is that it can display the time in another longitude where a loved one is living.
Drawing inspiration from the men’s Aquanaut ref 5164, where two push-pieces on the left of the case set the local time, the manufacture incorporated two new innovations into the Travel Time — a quartz movement with a dual-time-zone function, the calibre E 23-250 S FUS 24H, and a discreet, practical setting system via the winding crown.
This article first appeared on June 7, 2021 in The Edge Malaysia.
