BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
With over 80 years of history, Patek Philippe is no stranger when it comes to world timers. For Baselworld 2019, the Patek Philippe World Time 5231J has a long heritage to look back to and to really understand how this watch is perceived by both watch enthusiasts and collectors, we need to look back at the brand’s past world timers. The reference 5110 marked the revival of World Time watches in the 20th century. And then in 2006, 5130 was released and a decade later, Patek Philippe 5230 was introduced. One of the recurring characters of the watch is its beautiful enamel dial that can be seen with the reference 5131. The dial is impressive and very iconic for the brand, that is why it is very valuable to hardcore collectors.
And of course to satisfy the thirst of its fans, Patek Philippe introduces the reference 5231J following the same footsteps of the legendary world timers from Patek. This time, it gets a warm yellow gold case with a classical cloisonné enamel dial, a beautiful dial if I may add.
The 38.5 mm yellow gold case is perfect for the watch’s intended audience, the world travelers that sees multiple timezones. The distinctive winglet lugs is classic and together with the narrow inclined bezel as seen in the collection, we get a very cool case with a serious heritage. The design is very clean with smoothed edges and very detailed lines. There is a pusher at 10 o’clock that adjusts the local time by one-hour while rotating the city ring at the same time.
Moving on, the enamel dial shows a world map framed with thin gold lines. Surrounding it are 2 rings with specific indications, 24-hours and the names of 24 cities.
Powering the watch is the popular calibre 240-HU with 48 hours of power reserve and can be seen through the exhibition back along with the Geneva stripes.
Finally, the 5231J wears on a brown alligator leather strap secured by a gold folding buckle.
Visit Patek Philippe here.
