On Wednesday of this week in Milan, Patek Philippe unveiled its newest women’s watch collection, the Twenty-4 Automatic. Backed by a new digital lifestyle campaign and boasting its own new tag line–“Begin your own tradition”– the collection is designed to engage today’s highly successful female watch lovers.
The now-iconic Twenty-4 has existed since 1999, when it was first introduced to the world as a rectangular watch with quartz movement, and as the brand’s first steel with diamonds timepiece. The manchette shape with softened corners stole hearts immediately, and the collection has continued year after year with new renditions being released.
The new Twenty-4 Automatic line, however, was five years in the making and is a dramatic departure from the original older sibling in several ways – all designed to attract the self-assured cosmopolitan woman.
1. The Patek Philippe Twenty-4 Automatic offers a shape with curves and versatility.
The immediate difference in the new Twenty-4 Automatic watch is the fact that it is no longer a rectangle. It is a curvaceous 36mm round watch. Patek Philippe knows that curves matter when it comes to creating a feminine timepiece, and having a round watch offers today’s women ease of wear.
Additionally, the round shaped deftly toes from day to night, yielding greater wearability. Crafted in both polished stainless steel and in 18-karat rose gold (all with diamond bezels), the watches feature matching link bracelets and a newly created patented clasp. The dials are very modern, with a choice of a linen motif in silver, rich blue, chocolate brown and slate gray/black.
2. The Patek Philippe Twenty-4 Automatic took 5 years to build and houses intricate mechanics.
The second big difference between the original Twenty-4 and the Automatic is self-evident in the name. The new watch sheds the quartz movement in favor of a self-winding mechanical caliber: the in-house-made 324S C with silicium technology. In this timepiece, Patek Philippe is acknowledging that today’s women are more sophisticated and interested in the mechanics of a watch. By offering a mechanical movement that is also a highly precise powerhouse for the brand (the movement is used in other watches including the Nautilus and Aquanaut), Patek Philippe hopes to attract savvy female watch lovers.
3. Through its new campaign, Patek Philippe is leaning in to a new demographic and type of collector.
Easily one of the most intriguing aspects of the new Twenty-4 Automatic is the all-new tag line: “Begin your own tradition.” With this philosophy, Patek Philippe is empowering women to make their own story and have their own meaningful relationship with the Twenty-4 Automatic. While the brand’s well-known campaign, “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation,” has been impressing collectors for decades, this new tag line lets women imagine their own plans for the watch and for life.
Being powered by a mechanical movement, and featuring two rows of Top Wesselton diamonds on the bezel, these new Patek Philippe Twenty-4 Automatic watches range from about $26,000 to $56,000, but they definitely make owning a Patek Philippe Twenty-4 watch of either style (manchette or round) highly stylish.