Patek Philippe released the reference 2597 in 1958, which was based on a Louis Cottier-designed prototype from 1953 with heures sautantes, or jumping hours. Cottier, an independent watchmaker, was known for his ingenious work on specialized timepieces from jumping digital hour watches, to aviators’ watches, and most notably his “World Time” mechanism from 1931. Over the span of almost 30 years, he delivered to Patek Philippe approximately 380 watch movements leading to some of the most sought-after timepieces of the 20th century, including the reference 1415 “World Time” with engraved bezel with 41 world cities, the reference 2523 - a two crown “World Time” watch with rotating world city ring on the dial, and the reference 2597 which came in two series.

The first series, like the present watch, featured one hour hand and two pushers on the left side of the case allowing for the hour hand to be quickly adjusted forward or backward. The second series, launched in 1962 added an additional hour hand. So intelligent and enduring was this design, a version of the same system can be found in Patek Philippe’s World Time Chronograph ref. 5930G launched in 2016. Scholarship tells us that the first version was made in approximately 100 pieces, with the vast majority cased in yellow gold.

With a gorgeous silver sunburst dial and strong case, the present reference 2597 in yellow gold has endured the past half-century with grace. An exquisite and extremely well-preserved example of the reference, it is accompanied by its original Certificate of Origin and hang tag consigned from an important private collection.