For the first time, Patek Philippe combines two of its patented complications: the Annual Calendar and the Travel Time mechanism. In the new Ref. 5326G-001, the company shows off its technical savoir-faire by optimising and improving the paired operation of the two types. All this, in a new Calatrava case (in white gold) with an unprecedented style, with Clous de Paris decoration on the case middle. The originality of the dial is another of its strong points: in vintage style and shaded grey, it features a grainy texture reminiscent of old camera bodies.
As with the Perpetual Calendar in-line of 2021, the starting base for the new movement, the calibre 31-260 PS QA LU FUS 24H (which boasts 8 patent applications), was the 31-260 Regulator with Annual Calendar. The new execution made for the Annual Calendar Travel Time has retained some of the optimisations already made in the perpetual in-line.
The interaction between the two complications led to some technical challenges. The date shown is always relative to the local time and changes forwards or backwards, if necessary, each time the time zone is corrected, leading to a reworking of the Annual Calendar mechanism. Therefore, the two complications do not function independently but it is the local time wheel that drives the calendar.
In order not to compromise the aesthetic balance of the Clous de Paris decoration and to preserve the elegant concept of the Calatrava case, the Travel Time function mechanism has also been reworked. It retains the identical display but changes the adjustment system: no longer with push-buttons but with the crown (in an intermediate position, turned in one direction or the other, clockwise to go forwards, anti-clockwise to go backwards).
