To accomplish this feat, Patek Philippe’s horologists had to closely integrate the timepiece’s world time and minute repeater functions. Until then, the two functions had always remained completely separate, sharing only a plate and a power source.

While integrating the two complications, they also had to maintain the watch’s exceptional acoustic quality. After all, Patek Philippe has been defining the benchmark for minute repeater sound quality for decades. Each piece must pass the most stringent standards, and each one is personally inspected by Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern himself.

While minute repeaters may seem like amusing trifles now, they served an important purpose before electricity became widely available: they allowed one to check the time in the dark, and were also used by the visually impaired.

Patek Philippe’s earliest world time models were produced in the 1930s. The 1937 world time watch indicated the place names on a fixed outer dial disk, and had a rotating 24-hour ring. In 1939, the city names were transferred to a rotating bezel, so one could set their home city to 12 o’clock, then adjust the time accordingly.

In 1954, Patek Philippe patented a new mechanism in which the city names could be adjusted using a second crown at 9 o’clock. The watchmaker’s next breakthrough came in 2000: the city disk, 24-hour ring, and hour hand could all be adjusted simultaneously with one pusher, making the watch easier than ever to use.

The World Time Chronograph, released in 2016, was the first watch to combine a flyback chronograph and world time complication. Today, the World Time Minute Repeater continues Patek Philippe’s illustrious history of innovation and high craftsmanship in watchmaking.

All In The Details

The center of the World Time Minute Repeater’s dial features miniature cloisonné enamel art—a first for Patek Philippe minute repeaters. 

This year, the World Time Minute Repeater is reinterpreted with a view of the Lavaux winegrowing region—a UNESCO World Heritage site—with a lateen-rigged boat that has set sail. The city disk echoes the Lac Léman theme by representing Central European Time with Geneva instead of the traditional Paris. It is made from lacquered silvery white opaline, with the locations in contrasting black.

The 24-hour disk, in turn, is beautifully crafted for optimum legibility: on the day half, the numerals are engraved and tinted in a warm shade of brown that perfectly complements the rose-gold base. By contrast, the night half is brown, highlighting the rose gold glow of engraved digits.

The “Southern Cross” constellation traced by the movement of the hour hand is a unique World Time feature also found in this iteration of the watch, another subtle signature flourish rounding out elements that come together to form a timepiece that any discerning jetsetter would be proud to wear on their wrist.

To learn more about the Patek Philippe Ref. 5531R World Time Minute Repeater and other World Time models, visit the brand’s website.