Patek World Time: Patek Philippe 5110G is World Class

• • The Patek Philippe 5110G World Time embodies innovation and refinement.

• • It’s a classic complication from a house known for excellence in complications.

• • The stories are true; finish on the 5110G World Time is breathtaking.

• • Why compromise? This is the ultimate connoisseur’s Patek Philippe reference.

• • This Patek Philippe 5110G World Time is offered with a full factory set.

Patek Philippe knows world time watches. The 5110G World Time is an 18-karat gold tribute to the firm’s seventy year mastery of this charming complication. The 5110G reads like a love letter to the hardest of hardcore Patek Philippe connoisseurs.

From its tapered 37.5mm form to its scintillating micro-rotor movement to its guilloché inner dial, the Patek Philippe 5110G embodies the best of the Geneva aristocrat’s finest watchmaking and artistic traditions.

World time watches combine a counter-clockwise 24-hour ring with a rotating chapter ring of reference cities. In the case of the 5110G World Time, each reference city represents one of the 24 principal time zones of the earth.

This system, which was invented by Geneva-area watchmaker Louis Cottier at the dawn of the 1930s, enables a unique trick; one dial permits instant reference to the time in any of the globe’s disparate regions. Unlike dual-time and GMT watches that track two time zones or enable the calculation of time relative to a reference, the world time watch as invented by Cottier features all times… all the time.

While watches depicting many reference cities pre-dated the modern world time complication, Cottier’s innovation was the addition of a 24-hour ring that rotates counter-clockwise. The 24 hours of the ring are concentric to the 24 reference cities.

Simply align one’s current city with the index at 12 o’clock, set the local time, and Patek Philippe does the rest. A New Yorker can read the time in Dacca at a glance. A shaded semi-circle on the 24-hour ring advises the local AM/PM status.

As enthusiasts of the marque will attest, what Patek doesn’t invent, Patek strives to perfect. The world time watch is no exception. In the case of the 5110G World Time, Patek Philippe watchmakers integrated one of the company’s original innovations – a coordinated time adjustment patented in 1959.

Patek’s quick-set feature allows the user to advance local and world time indications in coordinated fashion. While other world timers require independent adjustment of the city  reference ring and time settings when transiting time zones, the Patek Philippe 5110G permits one-touch push button advancing of the user’s present time zone.

For example, a trip from New York (GMT-5) to London can be accommodated by pushing the trigger at 10 o’clock five times; the city ring advances opposite the hour hand to reset the local time to London and the reference city to correspond.

The 5110G is more than a world-class world timer. It’s an anthology of the Patek Philippe’s greatest hits.

A 37.5mm case crafted in the image of the firm’s iconic Calatrava models embodies the elegance for which Patek watches are renowned.

Since the Stern family assumed ownership of Patek Philippe during the early 1930s, fine case lines, classical proportions, and modest dial graphics have been hallmarks of the manufacture’s most revered models.

This 5110G World Time maintains Patek’s record of reconciling complications with legibility and aesthetic balance.  Its dial employs heat-oxidized black kite hands over a silver dial to facilitate instant recognition of the local time. Below the hands, a guilloché inner disc sports rose-engine engraving that constricts from a distinct grid of clous de Paris to a fine shaded gradient as it approaches the dial center.

All of the city names are arrayed in legible and logical fashion.

If some of the listed locales have lapsed into obsolescence as time references (Caracas, Venezuela, for example, has resided since 2007 in self-declared GMT -4:30 zone), they gain value as a road map of geopolitical history and a snapshot of an era. Remember, anachronistic Patek Philippe watches do not become dated; they become collectible.

Modestly sized corporate branding maintains a clean dial and eschews the implicit insecurity of contemporary macro-branding. Many ardent fans of traditional Patek Philippe have expressed dismay at the bloating of the company logo on late 2000s debuts from Geneva’s foremost name, and the company’s most recent debuts have backtracked to curb the uproar.

But in the 5110G World Time, a collector can relive the halcyon days when such missteps were unheard of. Indeed, the refinement of the Patek Philippe’s world time watch extends beyond deft details.

The 5110 World Time debuted in 2000, years before the current crop of modernized Patek Philippe complications. While many of the firm’s recent references – especially the complicated chronographs – have been critiqued for excessive thickness, the 5110G reminds us that more is less in the realm of the haut-de-gamme.

Inside Patek’s slim vessel sits a manufacture caliber 240/188 based on the micro-rotor model 240.

Since the late 1970s, the model 240 and its derivatives have defined excellence in the field thin automatic movements. With a basic architecture that measures less than 2.5mm thick, the complicated caliber 240/188 measures 3.8mm thick with all world time apparatus installed behind the main plate.

That’s almost exactly half the thickness of a basic time/date automatic Cal. 3135 from Patek’s crosstown Geneva counterpart Rolex.

Looking for a change of pace? Flip the Patek Philippe 5110G World Time and lose track of time altogether.

Its embedded 22-karat micro-rotor leads an array of Geneva Hallmark hardware that impressed with the naked eye and astounds under magnification. Immaculate detailing regardless of model or MSRP is the single greatest distinction of a Patek Philippe timepiece.

This Patek Philippe 5110G World Time is being offered by The 1916 Company with full factory boxes, papers, documents of provenance, and all accessories.

Buying a classic Patek Philippe requires collectors to demand provenance, condition, and complete sets. This 5110G runs the table.

More than auction headlines, “Future Generations” ads, or head-spinning complexity, Patek Philippe’s reputation has been defined by the firm’s unwavering commitment to innovation, fine finish, and respect for tradition. Even for skeptics, seeing is believing; for believers, wearing a Patek Philippe means becoming part of the legend.