Building on its expertise in world time complications, Patek Philippe has reached another milestone: a world-first with its patented date display, synchronised to local time, which works seamlessly within the Caliber 240 HU C.
Based in Geneva, the family-owned company developed this ultra-thin self-winding mechanical movement for its new-generation World Time, launched in June 2023 at its Watch Art Grand Exhibition held in Tokyo.
With a diameter of 40 millimeters, the white gold Reference 5330 stood out with a dial in plum -- the exhibition's thematic colour. After this audacious limited edition, what's next for the upgraded model?
Patek Philippe gives Reference 5330G-001 a cool denim look for its entry into the regular Complications collection in 2024.
The world time complication retrospectively joined its haute horlogerie in the 1930s, when air travel became more common along with the availability of transatlantic flights.
In 1931, Louis Cottier invented the 'heure universelle' for pocket watches. In the following year, the Stern brothers -- Jean and Charles -- acquired Patek Philippe for a new era with the development of World Time wristwatches on its agenda.
Technical evolution in the 1950s included a function for reading the time simultaneously and permanently in 24 time zones, by means of mobile city and 24-hour discs, while the local-time (in a time zone selected at 12 o'clock) is indicated by the central hour and minute hands.
By the end of the 20th century, Patek Philippe had advanced this complication with an innovative mechanism for changing the time zones and adjusting all displays by simply pressing a pusher at 10 o'clock, without affecting the rate accuracy of the minutes and seconds.
First introduced in the Reference 5110 in 2000, the Caliber 240 HU has powered Patek Philippe's World Time watches ever since.
Based on this movement, in-house engineers worked on an additional mechanism that would couple the date display with the local time.
World-time models with a date indicator normally require resetting the time zone and the date independently, when changing time zones.
The challenge was to adjust the date automatically when passing midnight to the next day and when crossing the International Date Line from west to east, where the date goes back by a day.
The resulting Caliber 240 HU C boasts a patented central differential system comprising two concentric star-type gear wheels.
This innovative mechanism synchronises the date display with local time and changes the date automatically at each correction of the time zone, notably when it entails a change of date, either backwards or forwards.
Simply pressing the pusher at 10 o'clock adjusts, in one-hour increments, all World Time display including the date.
The original and legible date display mode involves a central hand with a hammer-shaped tip in red lacquer that moves along a transfer-printed scale from 1 to 31 on a bevelled, silvery flange on the periphery of the dial.
For the first time at Patek Philippe, the relatively static and transparent hand is made of glass in order to avoid disturbing the legibility of other information. The adjacent city disc with 24 place names also has a touch of red as a dot between Auckland and Midway to mark the International Date Line.
The day and night zones on the 24-hour disc are distinguished by a different colour with a small gilt sun and crescent moon symbolising noon and midnight. The local time in the selected time zone at 12 o'clock is given by dauphine-style hands that revolve around the blue-grey opaline dial with a carbon motif and applied baton-style hour markers.
The hour and minute hands as well as the markers are all in white gold with a white luminescent coating to enhance legibility. With white hand-stitching, the calfskin strap is in the same colour as the dial and appears like denim, thanks to an embossed motif.
The casual look makes the Reference 5330G-001 a coveted World Time that speaks to a younger audience and those who want to add denim to their watch wardrobe.
A denim makeover
Denim is a staple of everyday wear, and the wrist is no exception.
Patek Philippe has stylishly paired its Nautilus Flyback Chronograph with a blue-grey calfskin strap featuring a denim motif, accented by white hand-stitching. The new Reference 5980/60G-001, crafted in white gold, includes an additional strap made of composite material with a fabric pattern for a change in style.
In 2006, the launch of the flyback chronograph marked the 30th anniversary of the Nautilus collection. These elegant sports watches are defined by the rounded octagonal shape of the bezel, the porthole construction of the case, and the horizontally embossed dial.
The 2024 reinterpretation, featuring the denim-like strap, offers a contemporary and casual look.
The blue-grey opaline dial is framed by a white gold case with a diameter of 40.5 millimeters. A play of contrasting polished and satin finishes enhances the shape of the case and bezel, which has been slimmed down for a slightly enlarged dial opening, featuring a date display at 3 o'clock.
White gold hands and applied hour markers stand out clearly with a white luminescent coating while the chronograph's central seconds hand also serves as a running seconds display.
In an original and legible manner, the chronograph indications are grouped on a large monocounter at 6 o'clock with three concentric scales -- two for the minutes (from 1 to 30 and from 30 to 60) and the innermost one for the hours from 1 to 12.
Pressing the pusher at 2 o'clock starts and stops the chronograph function. Its counterpart at 4 o'clock actuates the flyback function for a new time measurement while the chronograph is running.
The sapphire crystal caseback reveals Caliber CH 28-520 C with a column wheel and vertical clutch as well as a 21K gold central rotor. The self-winding movement provides the Nautilus Flyback Chronograph with a maximum power reserve of 55 hours.
