Watches with world time function, a complication proven to be extremely useful for frequent travelers, are easily distinguished thanks to their two movable discs, which simultaneously and continuously indicate the time in 24 time zones. World time models produced between 1930 and 1960 have recently reached absolutely incalculable values.
The origin of the world time system dates back to the 1930s when Geneva watchmaker Louis Cottier (1894-1966) invented a clever complication that allowed for a glance at the 24 time zones of the world. This complication was a true revolution as it coincided with a period of great growth in air travel and international communications. In the 1950s, the world time complication underwent a new evolution with the appearance of the city name disc. This disc became the distinctive feature of Patek Philippe’s World Time models. Thanks to an ingenious mechanism patented in 1999, the user can simultaneously adjust all world time indications in one-hour increments by simply pressing the button at 10 o’clock.
A clear example of these pieces produced between the 1930s and 1960s is the Patek Philippe reference 5230P, launched in 2022. This watch of sublime beauty and technology combines, for the first time, a platinum case with a blue bracelet and dial. The case, with a diameter of 38.5mm and a thickness of 10.23mm, features a narrow hand-polished bezel and distinctive lugs. The dial of this timepiece is blue and is characterized by a center adorned with a new hand-guilloché circular pattern. The applied gold hour indexes complete the dial.
At the periphery of the dial are the two rotating discs for the city and 24-hour time, allowing simultaneous and continuous control of the time in each of the existing time zones. At the heart of the watch beats a mechanical self-winding movement, caliber 240 HU, visible through the sapphire crystal caseback.