Short answer

Patek Philippe has never made a reference 5390. The watch behind almost every "aviator travel time" listing is the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time, ref. 5524, launched in 2015 in white gold and later offered in rose gold. The number 5390 gets recycled because 5396 is a genuine Patek (an Annual Calendar), so the digits look believable to someone who has not opened the catalogue. When a seller calls a 5390 an aviator travel time and sounds confident about it, you have learned something about the seller.

That matters for evaluation. If the reference number is invented, then every other claim in the listing deserves the same scrutiny, starting with whether the watch even performs the function that defines the model.

The function is the whole point

The 5524 is a true dual time watch, not a GMT with a 24 hour hand. Two hour hands sit on the dial: a solid local hour hand and a skeletonized home time hand. Two pushers on the left case flank, roughly at 8 and 10 o'clock, jump the local hour hand forward or back in one hour steps without stopping the movement or disturbing the minutes. Patek's calibre 324 S C FUS handles this, and the date follows local time, so pushing across midnight rolls the date with it.

That architecture is expensive to copy. A large share of replicas swap in a plain GMT movement, which means the second hour hand sweeps a full 24 hour circle instead of jumping, the case pushers are decorative or do nothing, and the crown does all the work. If you can hold the watch, test it first.

  • Push the upper left pusher once. A real dual time mechanism jumps the local hour hand by exactly one hour.
  • Confirm the minutes hand does not move during the jump.
  • Check that the date advances only when local time passes midnight, not when home time does.
  • Look at the second hour hand. Jumping type, not a 24 hour sweep hand.

Dial and case details worth comparing

Pull up official photography of the reference before you judge any seller image. The real dial uses applied white gold numerals with lume, a subsidiary dial at 6 o'clock, and two day/night apertures. Case size sits around 42mm, and the finishing on the bezel and lugs is crisp enough that light breaks along defined edges rather than smearing.

On replicas, the usual failures are softer lug bevels, a bezel that looks polished when it should be brushed (or the reverse), lume plots that sit slightly off center inside the numerals, and print that thickens under magnification. None of that is visible in a 1200 pixel listing photo taken under soft light.

Why listing photos mislead

Stock images get reused across dozens of storefronts, sometimes with the same fingerprint smudge in the same spot. Studio lighting hides case finishing and dial texture. A seller who will not send a short video with the watch running, the pushers being pressed, and a timestamp visible is telling you the photos are not of the piece you would receive.

How the replica tiers actually break down

Cheap tiers run quartz or basic automatic movements with a cosmetic dial. Mid tiers use common Japanese automatics with a GMT hand, which gives you a second time zone but not the pusher function. Higher tiers modify a Swiss pattern automatic and add a dual time module, and that is the only tier where the pushers do something. Price tracks that gap directly, which is why the same model name can appear at wildly different numbers.

A practical checklist before you commit

  1. Ask for the exact reference number and cross check it against Patek's own site. Understand that counterfeit watches cannot be sold as genuine in the US, and misrepresenting one is a legal problem, not a negotiation.
  2. Request a timestamped video showing the pusher jump and the date roll.
  3. Ask for a clear macro shot of the dial print and the caseback.
  4. Confirm the warranty and return terms in writing before paying.
  5. Compare the crown position, pusher placement, and lug shape to official photos side by side.

Bottom line

The phrase "fake Patek Philippe aviator travel time 5390" describes a model that does not exist, built around a reference number that does not exist, sold by people hoping you will not check. The 5524 is what you are actually looking at. Learn its pusher function, its dial layout, and its case finishing, and most listings collapse on the first question you ask.