The reference 5131 is part of a prestigious lineage of world time wristwatches made by Patek Philippe. Introduced in 2008 in yellow gold, it was later followed by a white gold model in 2009 and finally by pink gold and platinum versions. Now discontinued, it was the first modern world time reference to be graced with the fabled cloisonné dial featuring geographic maps.

With the advent of the industrial age came the means necessary to facilitate global trade and travel and, as a direct result, there was a need for timekeeping devices capable of tracking time in multiple locations. Between 1930 and 1931, Louis Cottier designed an ingenious, ultra-thin mechanism that simultaneously displayed the correct hours across the world's time zones through a rotating 24-hour ring, in addition to the local time.

The city of choice (local time zone) would be set at the 12 o'clock position with the hours/minutes handset at local time. The highly user-friendly design, used until the present day, would then display the correct time in both hours and minutes, night and day, for 24 time zones simultaneously, while clearly indicating local time - all via a single dial.

The present white gold reference 5131 is preserved in excellent, and in our opinion unpolished, condition with its full-set of accessories. The lovely enamel dial representing Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania, all outlined in fine gold, demonstrates the technical mastery and artistic craftmanship of these iconic Patek Philippe world time wristwatches.

A similar example of the reference in yellow gold can be found in our sale at lot 111.