Short on time? The 5110, made from 2000 to 2006, was Patek's first automatic world time watch and brought the complication back to the regular collection. The platinum 5110P with blue guilloché centre is the one collectors chase. 37mm, calibre 240 HU, and a world time mechanism you can change with one push.
Backstory
World time watches go back to the 1930s and a watchmaker called Louis Cottier, whose system let you read every time zone on one dial. Patek built some of the most famous world timers ever made, the reference 2523 from the 1950s among them, and then went a long time without one in the regular collection.
The 5110 changed that in 2000. It was Patek's first automatic world timer, and it was offered in yellow gold, rose gold, white gold and platinum. In 2006 the 5130 took over.
How It Works
This is one of the most satisfying complications to actually use, so let's walk through it.
Around the edge of the dial is a ring of 24 cities, one for each time zone. Inside that is a 24-hour ring that shows day and night. Your local time is read from the hands in the middle. Any other city, you just read across from its name to the 24-hour ring.
When you land somewhere new, you press the pusher at 10 o'clock. Each press moves the hour hand, the city ring and the 24-hour ring forward by one zone together. Your new home city sits at the top, and every other time zone updates with it. One button. No maths.
The Movement
Inside is the calibre 240 HU, built on Patek's ultra-thin automatic 240 with its 22k gold micro-rotor. The micro-rotor keeps the case slim, around 9.8mm, which is why the 5110 feels so much more elegant than you'd expect from a watch with this much going on. Power reserve is around 48 hours.
Key Details
Platinum is the 5110 that people talk about, and the reason is the dial. The platinum version got a blue guilloché centre, and it's beautiful: deep, textured, and it changes with the light. Against the cool grey of platinum, it's one of the best colour combinations Patek has done in the modern era.
On the Wrist
At 37mm, the 5110P is a classic dress size, and it wears smaller and lighter than the dial's complexity suggests. Platinum adds weight without bulk. It sits close to the wrist on its strap and doesn't shout about itself, which is exactly how a world timer of this quality should behave.
Final Thoughts
The 5110P is the kind of Patek that rewards people who've been collecting for a while. It's useful, it's beautifully made, and it represents a moment when Patek brought one of its signature complications back to life. In platinum with that blue dial, it's the one to have.
Ours is a 2003 example in excellent condition, a full set. See it here.
