製造商: Patek Philippe 年份: 2012 型號: 5131J 機芯編號: 5'684'616 錶殼號碼: 4'557'036 型號名稱: World Time 材料: 18K yellow gold 機芯: Automatic, cal. 240, 33 jewels, stamped with the Patek Philippe Seal 錶帶/ 錶鏈: Alligator 錶扣: 18K yellow gold Patek Philippe deployant clasp 尺寸: 40mm Diameter 簽名: Case, dial, movement and bracelet signed 配件: Accompanied by Patek Philippe Certificate of Origin stamped by Salons Patek Philippe Geneve and dated January 18, 2013, fitted presentation box, leather wallet and product literature. Furthermore delivered with Patek Philippe Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch in 2013 and its subsequent sale on January 18, 2013
圖錄文章
Patek Philippe's reference 5131 is a worthy heir to the long lineage of coveted worldtime watches the Geneva brand is famous for, and is also the first modern worldtime reference to be graced with the fabled cloisonné dial featuring geographic maps.
Worldtime watches were invented, as is the case with most innovations, out of necessity. With the advent of the industrial age came global trade and travel and, as a direct result, there was a need for timekeeping devices capable of tracking time in multiple locations. The worldtime complication, other than being a utilitarian invention , is also a window into history. With the rise and fall of nations, one capital replaced another as reference city for a specific time zone.
Surprisingly, watchmakers did not immediately take the opportunity of creating worldtime watches based on the 24hour time zones set up by the International Meridian Conference of 1884. Was this due to the complexity of the mechanism, the lack of demand, national issues with the exact division of the time zones or the legendary Swiss neutrality (not wanting to put forward one nation by having its capital be the city of reference for that time zone)? Whatever the answer, worldtime watches as we know them today remained off the radar until the early 1930s and an invention by genius watchmaker Louis Cottier. It is around that period in 1930/1931 that Cottier designed a movement featuring a local time with hour and minute hands at center, linked to a rotating 24hour ring, and bordered by a fixed outer dial ring with the names of different cities inscribed on it. The city of choice (local time zone) was placed at the 12 o'clock position with the hours/minutes hand set at local time, the watch would then display the correct time in both hours and minutes, night and day, for every time zone in the world simultaneously, all the while allowing easy and accurate reading of local time, and all on a single dial.
The present lot is characteristic of the first series of reference 5131J, its city ring featuring Dubai and Caracas as representatives of their respective time zone. Later models will instead feature La Paz and Riyadh.
Since its founding in 1839, this famous Geneva-based firm has been surprising its clientele with superbly crafted timepieces fitted with watchmaking's most prestigious complications. Traditional and conservative designs are found across Patek Philippe's watches made throughout their history — the utmost in understated elegance.
Well-known for the Graves Supercomplication — a highly complicated pocket watch that was the world’s most complicated watch for 50 years — this family-owned brand has earned a reputation of excellence around the world. Patek's complicated vintage watches hold the highest number of world records for results achieved at auction compared with any other brand. For collectors, key models include the reference 1518, the world's first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph, and its successor, the reference 2499. Other famous models include perpetual calendars such as the ref. 1526, ref. 3448 and 3450, chronographs such as the reference 130, 530 and 1463, as well as reference 1436 and 1563 split seconds chronographs. Patek is also well-known for their classically styled, time-only "Calatrava" dress watches, and the "Nautilus," an iconic luxury sports watch first introduced in 1976 as the reference 3700 that is still in production today.
