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Patek Philippe 5524G Pilot Watch - In-depth review (picture heavy)

jm_brc_7057

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There is a 5 pages thread on this watch. And a lot of bits and pieces. I've put this review together in respect of this very nice rep of a very nice watch.

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Patek Philippe has a long history of inventions and have the first wristwatch to its name invented in 1868. Although the wristwatch first got popularized in 1904 by Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, who ordered a wristwatch from Louis Cartier. Not a pilot watch as we know it, yet it was intended for use on his flights in Paris.
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The first Pilot Watch as we know it was made by Zenith and used crossing the English channel in 1909.

The 5524G is a watch which divides opinions. It’s not in line with the modern or typical classic design of what people associate to PP. Many were surprised that PP introduced a Pilot Watch. Though when looking at the history, Patek Philippe are not unfamiliar with pilot watches.

Patek Philippe have a long history of producing watches used by airforce pilots and officers watches from the world wars

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This prototype pilot watch from 1936 was sold for 1.9 million USD in 2009 at Christie’s:
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Even though there is a clear historical connection, many still felt that this watch was very un-Patek. But opinions have been changing lately, since its introduction in 2015, this watch has been gaining popularity.
Patek Philippe responded by introducing the limited edition 5522A in 2017, which was made entirely in steel:

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The rosegold 5524R in 2018, and the 5520P in march 2019 which included an alarm function:
Patek-Philippe-Alarm-Travel-Time-5520P-3.jpg
They also made a unique 5524T (1 piece only) in support for the Geneva based Children Action. In my opinion one of the most beautiful watches I’ve seen for a very long time.
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Whether one likes it or not, this watch and the line of design has come to stay.

Facts on gen:
Case diameter: 42mm
Case material: White gold
Thickness: 10.78mm
Lug/buckle: 21mm/18mm

Retail price: 47600USD
The rep





Introduced by GRF in June 2019.
Case is made of stainless steel. The diameter is 42mm and thickness is: approx. 11mm.
Lug/buckle width: 21/18 mm (confirmed).

I have seen the gen and the rep looks a lot like it. They’ve managed to capture the essence of this watch. It has a similar very authentic look to it.

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Dial/hands
The dial is very convincing. It has the same nuance of blue – without a doubt. And changes to almost a dark blue/black in the correct lighting. The yellowish hue of the Arabic numerals and font is also very close to gen there is a silver edge. Great work by GRF!

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The hour/minutes hands and Arabic numerals are luminated. The GMT-hand is skeletonized. The date hand is white. All the hands have the same color and shape of the gen. There is a difference in the central ring of the GMT hand, it is white, in gen it is blue:

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The local/home displays are depressed dots and like in gen they are white/blue.

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Case
Has a very similar shape to the gen, with a sloped stepped bezel. And lugs are short and downwards curve.
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Strap
The rep comes with a black strap. Usually I throw them away as garbage. But this strap is actually okay. I have bought a CF in the gold color the gen comes with. And off course the gen strap is much softer in the leather. The rep strap is also very stiff. Before you wear it you will have to bend it. Maybe give it some leather cream. As a replacement strap offering a different color option I think it is fine to keep.

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The buckle isn’t the same as the gen though. They should’ve used a bit of resources to get this correct.

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Gen buckle:

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Crystal
Has no AR coating. It reflects a lot and blurs the dial a bit, making it look a bit cloudy. It’s not the look of a 50k Patek Philippe. One of the major flaws of this watch IMO:

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Movement decoration
Decoration is seriously done:

Cotes de Geneve:
It has beautiful cotes de Geneve stripings.

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Engravings:

Gold engraving, spelling is correct, although I can’t see with the naked eye if it says “Adjusted to heat gold isochronism” or “cold” (the latter is what it should be). With the loupe its visible that they misspelled it to be "Gold".

Anglage
There is anglage finishing on the edges of the decoration plates (45 degrees mirror polishing of edges). Red arrow:
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Perlage
They have also the perlage finishing on the back plates (circular stippling engraving), which is a quite nice feature, making it look convincing when in hand as well as beautiful! Red arrows:
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Rotor

The rotor is gold and has Geneve stripings too. Only the central screw is a bit bigger than the gen. Other than that very similar.

Over all I am very satisfied with the decoration.

Movement functionality
Movement is a Miyota 9015. There is a functioning hours, minutes and seconds hand. There is also a functioning date hand, with date changing at midnight. There is recessed pusher at 6.30 on the case to set the date.
What is not functional though is the following:
The pushers at 10 and 8, aren’t functional.
  1. You therefore cannot set the GMT hand
  2. nor change the local/away display color
The GMT hand does move with the hours hand, but you cannot set it.

Summary of flaws
Major:
  • No functionality of the GMT-hand (although it moves with the hours hand), cant be set.
  • No functionality of the local/away display
  • The pushers controlling the above are hence non-functional
  • The crystal needs AR coating in my opinion
Minor:
  • The center ring of the GMT-hand is white instead of blue (not noticeable on the wrist)

On the wrist (concluding remarks)
This watch is really sexy on the wrist. I can’t call it beautiful – even though it is – as it has a very appealing masculine appearance. I think it has to do with the shape of the case, the big numerals and hands that get wider at the tip. Contributing to that is the big presence on the wrist with its 42mm, which is rather controversially big for a Patek. But this rep is very well balanced. It is only 11mm, which is perfect for the type of watch and the case size. Also the lugs are small and downwards curved so it hugs the wrist comfortably. And sits more like a 40mm sports watch, than the 42mm it is.

This watch offers you the option of using it on the occasions, where you don’t want to dress too much up with a dress watch or down with a sports watch but something in between. Something masculine, elegant and yet with a complex look. You can wear it with a blouse going to the cabin or on a date with that special lady, when you need not to dress too much up, a hunting or outdoor trip with the boys. Or at home chilling. Perhaps you had a dream of becoming a pilot as a child, or not! But this watch gives you options :)

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I wanted a pilot watch in my collection and this beauty offers variety in my watch box. It has drawbacks, such as non-functional pushers and need of AR-coating the crystal (a procedure needing to part with the precious for a long time). But what a great timepiece this is!

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This is how it will look having this exquisite piece at your night table. Not a bad sight to way wake up to:
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Last edited:

Glaude

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You need to stop making those review of watches that I didn't intended to buy and that I then need to buy... ! :D

Again, an excellent work bringing quality content to this Patek section !

Loved the pics, real care to the aesthetic of them !

I should be charging the rep factories for these reviews hehe . thanks mate.

As having writing quite a few review myself, discussed this with various TD, tried it, turns out, while people seem genuinly willing to buy after reading a review or are really tempted as they say, it rarely turns into a transaction, plus if you manage to get an arrangement, it'll be with the TD, and he take the risk that people will just get the watch from their favorite dealer rather than him (even with a promo running).
And we know that factory direct contact is impossible at this level.

But now do tell me, what do you have planned next to review ? :)
 

jm_brc_7057

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You need to stop making those review of watches that I didn't intended to buy and that I then need to buy... ! :D

Again, an excellent work bringing quality content to this Patek section !

Loved the pics, real care to the aesthetic of them !

Oh thanks mate. Those are really nice words. Means a lot coming from you. I just try my best to put a little effort in it. Give some background, describe what i see as good as i can and give my opinion on it to end with.
Thanks. The pictures are important. There are some here who are really good at it, i just try to make it appetizing. :)
 

jm_brc_7057

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As having writing quite a few review myself, discussed this with various TD, tried it, turns out, while people seem genuinly willing to buy after reading a review or are really tempted as they say, it rarely turns into a transaction, plus if you manage to get an arrangement, it'll be with the TD, and he take the risk that people will just get the watch from their favorite dealer rather than him (even with a promo running).
And we know that factory direct contact is impossible at this level.

But now do tell me, what do you have planned next to review ? :)

You are totally right, i was just kidding :)

Actually all the watches in my collection have been reviewed. Other than the IWC Portuguese Tourbillon, but a lot has been written on that. I have a Patek 5975R incoming, i will put pictures of it in the excellent review byGodfathar . So at the moment i have no upcoming review.
 
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Glaude

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Guess you need to buy more reps then ! Come on, go buy them ! :D
 

Godfathar

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It has been such a long time since I have seen such a thorough review like that.. Bravo budy, thank you so much for the time and effort, believe me I know how time consuming it is to go this deep and fish out the historical information about a watch.. we totally appretiate it, and we thank you for all the reviews you have made.. this is what the comminty is all about, this kind of contribution is at highest level of dedication to your peers here, and always helps out everyone..

thank you again.

Best
 
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jm_brc_7057

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Guess you need to buy more reps then ! Come on, go buy them ! :D

haha you are right mate. But i have a deal with my wife: Have to sell one to buy one. I am waiting for some special watch to arrive. Then i will sell my IWC Tourbillon.
 

jm_brc_7057

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It has been such a long time since I have seen such a thorough review like that.. Bravo budy, thank you so much for the time and effort, believe me I know how time consuming it is to go this deep and fish out the historical information about a watch.. we totally appretiate it, and we thank you for all the reviews you have made.. this is what the comminty is all about, this kind of contribution is at highest level of dedication to your peers here, and always helps out everyone..

thank you again.

Best

Thank you for the kind words. Good to hear. I appreciate it, because you know what it takes :) its exactly what i think. To inform as good as possible. Have gotten a lot of inspiration from your reviews and the high quality you produce. Thats for sure.
 
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maison888

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Thank god it's not another 5711 thread in the Patek section :p. Thank you for the informative review! This is a very attractive watch that deviates from what most people imagine when they hear the word Patek. With the all the decent Patek reps coming from ZF, I can only hope that they would rep this...but I know that's wishful thinking. Enjoy the watch sir!

PS - Is the IWC Tourby the green dial one? If I recall correctly from your collection shot. If it is I'm very interested :drinks_cheers:.
 

jm_brc_7057

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maison888 hehe exactly my thinking. Many sports watches on the forum. Yeah but I don't think they could get it functional as it is now.

The IWC is the YLF manual wind with grey dial. The only IWC Portuguese tourbillon reps that are close to gen are the green and grey dial. The others have automatic movement which the gen doesn't.
 

Interesting

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Interesting some gen Pateks can be an investment though. Most people can only justify one though. If you want a variety of them. Wear different types and complications every day. Reps are the way to go.

Yes. One of my greatest regrets was not picking up a hobnail 3992 a decade ago. Its more than doubled in price now. I found it too small then. Sigh.
 

m1994

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As mentioned above, you should stop doing these reviews..

You are becoming the king of reviews, since in addition to all the effort you put into them you add a plus by including high quality straps and the watch looks completely different.

Such a great review and thank you very much for adding so much in this community!