The History Of Patek Philippe World Timers

<h2>The 1930s-1960s</h2>
<p>As with many complications on the market, the world timer is anything but a modern creation. First invented by Louis Cottier in 1931, it didn’t take long for Cottier to be commissioned to scale the caliber for a wristwatch. After a few successes with pocket watches, <a href="https://www.thewatchbox.com/blog/patek-philippe-history.html">Patek Philippe</a> (among others) came knocking, and before long the two first Patek World Time references came to fruition in the form of Reference 515 HU in a rectangular case, and Reference 96 HU using the already popular <a href="https://www.thewatchbox.com/watches/patek-philippe/patek-philippe-calatrava/">Calatrava</a> case.</p>
<p>While only four of the rectangular prototypes were ever manufactured, the Calatrava-cased World Timers were effectively the birth of one of the most collectible <a href="https://www.thewatchbox.com/watches/patek-philippe/">Patek Philippe</a> watches in existence. Not long after, Reference 1415 was launched as a proper production-model world timer from Patek, though its production was modest, spanning from 1939 to 1954. These models consistently fetch north of $1M at auction these days, especially the rare examples that were produced with an enamel dial. Per available records, those enamel dials make up roughly a quarter of total production of the 1415.</p>
<div id="attachment_1162473" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1162473" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-1162473" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Patek-World-Timers-1600x1200-6.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="" width="800" height="450" /><p id="caption-attachment-1162473" class="wp-caption-text">Left; Coveted by collectors: Patek Philippe Ref. 1415. Right; Ref. 2523 features a dual crown configuration</p></div>
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<h3>The First Movement</h3>
<p>In its infancy, the first version of this caliber did not have a separate means of adjustment for local time. It instead relied on an outer bezel engraved with the various home cities, forcing its wearer to manually adjust the display of local time at 12 o’clock. It wasn’t until 1953 that Patek Philippe unveiled Cottier’s caliber 12-400 HU in their Reference 2523 world timer—the watch that paved the way for the eventual growth of the world time segment as a whole. The key difference at hand with the new movement was the move to a dual-crown configuration, and the repositioning of the world time city indications onto an outer ring of its dial. This logical change meant that the local time city could be changed via this second crown at the 9 o’clock position. The 2523 didn’t remain in Patek’s catalog very long, as after Louis Cottier’s passing in the late ‘60s, the brand opted to pull the plug on the model.</p>
<div id="attachment_1162455" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1162455" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-1162455" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Patek-World-Timers-1600x1200-5.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="" width="800" height="600" /><p id="caption-attachment-1162455" class="wp-caption-text">Ref. 5110 introduced a pusher at 10 o’clock to replace the second crown.</p></div>
<h2>The Early 2000s</h2>
<p>It took roughly 35 years for Patek Philippe to revive the much-loved world time complication, and the successor to Cottier’s masterpiece finally arrived in the form of the Reference 5110—a smartly executed evolution of the much-loved complication. The first noteworthy change is as much visual as it is functional. Rather than the second crown at 9 o’clock, a broad pusher was added to <a href="https://www.thewatchbox.com/shop/Patek-Philippe-Complications-5110P-001.html">Reference 5110</a> at the 10 o’clock position. Taking the place of this crown from a functional point of view, this pusher allows its wearer to advance the local time, advancing one timezone with each push. Just touched down in Paris coming from New York? Simply press the pusher six times, and both the hour hand and the outer chapter ring with the cities and 24h scale will advance to the correct position. This mechanism was actually patented by Patek many years prior, closer to the end of Reference 2523’s life cycle, and yet the brand waited until 2000 to bring the watch to market.</p>
<div id="attachment_1162474" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1162474" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-1162474" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Patek-World-Timers-1600x1200-7.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="" width="800" height="450" /><p id="caption-attachment-1162474" class="wp-caption-text">Left; Ref. <a href="https://www.thewatchbox.com/shop/Patek-Philippe-Complications-5130-1R-001.html">5130R</a>; powered by Caliber 240 HU. Right; The evolution of an icon: Patek Philippe <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp1jM6QkRLc">Ref. 5230 </a></p></div>
<h3>The Modern Movement</h3>
<p>Powering the modern world timer, the caliber 240 HU was certainly no slouch in terms of both specifications and finishing, which is in part why it still stands in production in the current Patek Philippe reference 5230 World Timer that came to replace the 5110. Patek did evolve the casing of its world timer, increasing from 37mm to 39.5mm as the 5110 was replaced by the 5130, and then down to 38.5 as this model was then superseded by the 5230, but all the while the caliber 240 HU remains unaltered. The micro-rotor self-winding caliber is a very modest 3.9mm thick and uses a Spiromax balance spring (made of a silicon-based composite proprietary to Patek), and a Gyromax balance wheel. Of course, finishing is one of the key details that differentiates Patek from the majority of its competitors, and thus the 240 HU is appropriately decorated and visible via an exhibition caseback. Elegant Geneva striping, perlage, and anglage abound, the caliber is a proper feast for the eyes, regardless of how well you know and understand the mechanics of timekeeping.</p>
<div id="attachment_1162475" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1162475" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-1162475" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Patek-World-Timers-1600x1200-8.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="" width="800" height="450" /><p id="caption-attachment-1162475" class="wp-caption-text">Sold at the Phillips Hong Kong auction in 2017, Ref. 2523 recalls a past era.</p></div>
<h2>Changing With The Times</h2>
<p>What makes the world timer category particularly interesting is how global timekeeping and reference cities have continued to evolve throughout time. Case and point, looking at this<a href="https://www.phillips.com/detail/PATEK-PHILIPPE/HK080217/908"> 2523 that sold at the Phillips Hong Kong auction in 2017</a>, there are a good number of city names on this dial that would seem entirely foreign to someone of a younger generation. Ceylon, Bombay, and Calcutta have all been renamed as Sri Lanka, Mumbai, and Kolkatta, respectively as means of brushing off their colonist roots. There are also time zones that have shifted over the years, in particular Madeira in Portugal is now aligned with London as GMT +1, and Adelaide and Sydney, Australia are now only a half hour apart, marking GMT +9.5 and GMT +10. Depending on the production year of the watch in question, there are other deviations to speak of, all of which make these world timers a bit of a historical time capsule. There’s something to be said for “owning a piece of history,” and this sentiment couldn’t ring more true of the vintage Patek Philippe world timers out there.</p>
<div id="attachment_1162451" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1162451" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-1162451" src="https://watchbox-blog.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Patek-World-Timers-1600x1200-1.jpg?max-w=1024&q=50&auto=format,compress&usm=10&usmrad=3" alt="" width="800" height="600" /><p id="caption-attachment-1162451" class="wp-caption-text">A modern-era world timer: <a href="https://www.thewatchbox.com/shop/Patek-Philippe-Complications-5131R-011.html">Patek Philippe Ref. 5131R </a></p></div>

Patek Philippe

Written By

Justin Mastine-Frost

Montreal to Vancouver, to New York, to Toronto, Justin Mastine-Frost’s career and personal interests have led to his spending quite a bit of time on the road. His curiosity and fondness for the realm of horology developed, quickly spiraling to full watch-world immersion. Over the years he has written for Esquire, Bloomberg, High Snobiety, as well as a year as the Senior Editor of the watch category for Robb Report magazine. He is presently Gear Editor for VerticalScope, parent company of Watchuseek and Motorcycle.com, among others.

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