It took roughly 35 years for Patek Philippe to revive the much-loved world time complication, and the successor to Cottier’s masterpiece finally arrived in the form of the Reference 5110—a smartly executed evolution of the much-loved complication. The first noteworthy change is as much visual as it is functional. Rather than the second crown at 9 o’clock, a broad pusher was added to Reference 5110 at the 10 o’clock position. Taking the place of this crown from a functional point of view, this pusher allows its wearer to advance the local time, advancing one timezone with each push. Just touched down in Paris coming from New York? Simply press the pusher six times, and both the hour hand and the outer chapter ring with the cities and 24h scale will advance to the correct position. This mechanism was actually patented by Patek many years prior, closer to the end of Reference 2523’s life cycle, and yet the brand waited until 2000 to bring the watch to market.
Powering the modern world timer, the caliber 240 HU was certainly no slouch in terms of both specifications and finishing, which is in part why it still stands in production in the current Patek Philippe reference 5230 World Timer that came to replace the 5110. Patek did evolve the casing of its world timer, increasing from 37mm to 39.5mm as the 5110 was replaced by the 5130, and then down to 38.5 as this model was then superseded by the 5230, but all the while the caliber 240 HU remains unaltered. The micro-rotor self-winding caliber is a very modest 3.9mm thick and uses a Spiromax balance spring (made of a silicon-based composite proprietary to Patek), and a Gyromax balance wheel. Of course, finishing is one of the key details that differentiates Patek from the majority of its competitors, and thus the 240 HU is appropriately decorated and visible via an exhibition caseback. Elegant Geneva striping, perlage, and anglage abound, the caliber is a proper feast for the eyes, regardless of how well you know and understand the mechanics of timekeeping.
