Fresh New Looks on the Patek Philippe Twenty~4

If you are anything like us, you rejoiced when the news of a fresh Patek Philippe Twenty~4 dropped last year. Of course, we loved the automatic Twenty~4 that debuted in 2018 – we also worried a little about the fate of the rectangular quartz model, which is called the manchette. This year, Patek Philippe is building up the Twenty~4 collection. Now there are new variants for both the round automatic watches as well the old school rectangular one: Ref. 7300/1200A-011 and Ref. 7300/1200R-011, and Ref. 4910/1201R-001, respectively.

The Twenty~4 is exclusively for women – it is not a feminine version of an existing watch for men. It was launched in 1999 and immediately made an impact for its diamonds and steel combination. This time, with Ref. 4910/1201R, the case and bracelet are in rose gold, with diamonds on the case. The dial is in what the brand calls chocolate brown sunburst. For the automatic versions, one is in steel with diamonds, graced with an olive green dial (Ref. 7300/1200A), and one is in rose gold with diamonds and a distinctive rose-gilt sunburst dial (Ref. 7300/1200R).

Back to the origins, to seasoned collectors, a form watch powered by a quartz movement in steel with diamonds was yet another chapter in bold thinking from the manufacture that dared to deliver the Nautilus and the Aquanaut. To everyone else, the Twenty~4 was simply a beautiful watch with a fetching bracelet that showcased a different part of the Genevan brand’s personality.

In his book, Patek Philippe, The Authorized Biography, Nick Foulkes described the watch thusly: “This straight-sided women’s bracelet watch was to prove, in many ways, the defining watch of the closing years of the twentieth century.” The Twenty~4 is not a watch that attracts a lot of space in magazines or even online – the name is certainly not search-engine friendly in the way of the aforementioned Nautilus and Aquanaut. Nevertheless, it has quite a powerful reputation and some even credit it with showing Patek Philippe’s commitment to creating watches specifically for women.

In marketing this watch, Patek Philippe uses the idea of rituals, specifically the slogan “Rituals of my Life,” which echoes the larger “Begin your own tradition” campaign. You might wonder why we would cite the advertising materials in this story, and it is simply because it adds to the value of the watch. It also tells you something about who Patek Philippe thinks will want to wear this watch. We think there are many more sorts of women who would want this watch, including those who do not go in for the Harry Potter Sorting Hat bit. Speaking of fantastically crafted narratives, we have managed to get this far into the story without delivering all the details on this watch. This is entirely on purpose because a watch like the Twenty~4 does not need technical specifications. Having said that, we close with the facts, in as few words as possible.

For those familiar with the watch, not much has changed except the dial colours and the markers. In the new design for the manchette, Roman numerals give way to white-gold applied Arabic numerals (just 12 and 6); the former diamond hour markers have made way for applied white gold trapeze-shaped hour markers. For the automatic version, all markers are in rosegold applied numerals, except for the 6, which is replaced by a date indicator. These markers and numerals, as well as the hands, sport luminous coatings (otherwise called fully lumed in watchspeak).