Quick answer
An imitation Patek Philippe Aviator Travel Time 5390 lives or dies by function, not by listing photos. The pilot style travel time layout uses a crown with more than one setting position, and one of those positions advances the local time hand in one hour jumps while the movement keeps running. A copy that cannot do that with the crown alone is a three hand watch wearing a decorative second time hand. Test the crown first, then move on to case shape, dial print, movement finish, and strap hardware.
Prerequisites
- A 10x loupe and a pair of digital calipers
- A phone camera with a macro mode for close shots
- A timing app or a timegrapher reading in seconds per day
- A printed spec sheet of the genuine pilot travel time reference for side by side comparison
Step by step
- Measure the case across the widest point and compare the number to the genuine reference. Most pilot travel time cases land near 42 mm, and a copy that measures 39 mm will look wrong on the wrist.
- Check the case profile for the cushion shape with soft corners, the stepped bezel, and the crown guards. Squared off lugs and a flat bezel are the fastest tells.
- Pull the crown to its first stop and turn it to see whether the local time hand jumps in one hour steps. The minute and seconds hands should not move during the jump.
- Watch the home time hand while you jump the local hand. It must keep running at the same rate, and it must not follow the local hand.
- Inspect the two day night apertures. Each should flip on its own schedule, one tied to local time and one tied to home time, and the discs should not sit crooked in the windows.
- Look at the dial print under the loupe. Lettering should be crisp with straight edges, and the applied numerals should sit flat with clean polishing on the bevels.
- Turn the watch over and read the movement. Look for a full rotor, Geneva stripes that run in one direction, blued screws with polished slots, and engraving that is cut into the metal rather than printed on top of it.
- Run a timing check in several positions, then let the watch sit for 24 hours and compare the reading to the first one. A copy that drifts by more than 15 seconds a day across positions has a cheap escapement.
- Flex the strap and open the clasp. Look for uneven stitching, sharp edges on the deployant, and plating that has started to flake at the hinge.
Red flags
- The second time hand moves only when the main time is set
- Day night indicators that are painted on rather than apertures with discs
- A case that is too light for the stated metal, which points to plated brass or a hollow steel shell
- Rotor noise that sounds like loose gravel when you tilt the watch
- A seller who will not send photos of the crown pulled to each position
Legal and ownership caveats
Counterfeit watches infringe trademarks, and US Customs and Border Protection can seize them at the border. A copy carries no manufacturer warranty, no service network, and no resale market. Owners who try to sell one on later can face the same seizure and liability problems as the original seller.
counterfeit patek philippe aviator travel time 5390
What no imitation reproduces
The genuine pilot travel time watches carry in house finishing that a copy cannot match: polished bevels that catch light in a single line, a free sprung balance, and a solid gold case with the heft that comes with it. A replica can copy the layout and the dial text. It cannot copy the balance of the movement or the hand finishing on the bridges, and those are the details a trained eye finds in seconds.