Patek Philippe World Time Enamel 5131G

Love it or hate it, the Patek Philippe World Time Enamel (ref 5131G) is a watch with a ton of personality. Showcasing the delicate watchmaking art of cloisonné, the World Time Enamel is a real Patek oddity.
To understand what's so special about this luxury watch, it's necessary to understand something about cloisonné. Cloisonné is the art of creating a delicate picture using coloured enamels and painstakingly-woven wires. The wires outline the different elements of the artwork, which are filled with coloured enamel and fired, often several times as different colours are added.
Enamel is made from powdered glass, which is mixed with water and superheated so it melts and attaches to a metallic surface. As the colour of the enamel is often different before and after firing, the cloisonné artist must be able to predict how her finished work will turn out, sometimes using shades that look odd at the unfired stage, only to reveal a perfect match when the heat has been applied.
Almost everything can go wrong with the enamelling process. A microscopic speck of dirt, an impurity in the water, a fluctuation in temperature—each time the dial of the Patek Philippe World Time Enamel 5131G is introduced to the furnace, it is placed in danger of shattering, or exploding, or burning out colours. And, as noted, that firing process happens many times before the work of art is complete.
The artwork at the centre of the Patek Philippe World Time Enamel is a cloisonné rendering of the world map. This luxury watch, which has a 39.5 mm case, was made available in both white gold and rose gold, and there were different renditions of the world map on each version. The model with which this article is concerned is a white gold World Time Enamel, on which the world map shows Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. I have also seen rose gold models featuring the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia.
The 'cloisons' (wire cells, in this case gold) on the map outline the continents, which are done with an extraordinary attention to detail. Ridged with texture that (probably geographically inaccurately) creates the idea of mountain ranges, and rendered in lush greens, desert golds, rocky browns and snowy whites, the continental artwork at the centre of the dial is truly marvellous. It recalls the classic pocket watches of bygone centuries, commissioned at great expense for travelling royalty—and also aligns with Patek's 'Contemporary' pocket watch models, some 40 unique pieces of which are produced each year.
Artistry is never far from the Patek brand, but it's usually (with the exception of those special Contemporary pieces) hidden beneath the surface, or stated much more subtly—in the lines of a Calatrava's hands, say, or the slender gong piece on the Grand Complication 5078P. The achievement of the cloisonné world map on the World Time Enamel's face could blind the wearer to the real star of this luxury watch: the 240 HU World Time calibre beating beneath it.
The 240 HU World Time is a unique movement, which enables the wearer to read the time anywhere in the world, using the name of the city currently at 12 o'clock as a reference for local time. Setting is done with a pushpiece sited at 10 o'clock. When the pusher is clicked, the watch mechanically performs all the exasperating calculations you would normally need to make to reset a two-handed watch with a world time display. The hour hand advances with every press, and a pair of dial rings (one for the 24-hour clock, one for the city) both move counterclockwise. The minute hand, meanwhile, is decoupled from the pusher so it can continue to track accurate time during setting.
From a user's perspective, the result is a luxury watch that can be set simply by clicking a pusher until the relevant city for local time is aligned with the red arrow at 12 o'clock. The unique circular hour hand identifies the correct time on the 24-hour ring: the minute hand travels around the dial as normal.
The 24-hour ring is divided into day and night hours for further legibility, ensuring the user experiences a true relationship with time no matter how frequently or how far he or she travels.
The incredibly slender case (considering the complexity of the movement) is based on Patek's classic Calatrava shape, and is presented on a deep blue leather strap. The folding clasp is in white gold. The crystal is sapphire glass, and the movement with its modest-sized rotor can be viewed through a sapphire caseback. Water resistance is 30 m.
Some diehard Patek fans don't like the World Time Enamel, finding it perhaps too gimmicky, not 'Patek Philippe' enough for their liking. And that bubble-shaped hour hand, with the sort-of-handwritten look of the city names on the outer ring, does give this luxury watch an oddly playful look. It's a bit like something Gerald Genta might have released under his own name: not a million miles away from the Gefica, for example. But complaints about playfulness and triviality fall away when you consider that the hour hand is actually borrowed from Patek's own history: it's a tribute to much older World Time models, and the reason you don't see it on other Patek watches is because the brand restricts its use to the World Time complication.
The Patek Philippe World Time Enamel 5131G is a serious, and seriously legible, travel watch masquerading as something much lighter than it is. Its price tag is the true indicator of its hefty purpose, and the value both of that cloisonné dial and the movement beating beneath it. To add one of these to your luxury watch collection, you'll need the kind of pocket change usually reserved for a Maserati. And a reason to travel frequently to every corner of the globe.
Image Credit – officialwatches.com vedere di piu rolex svizzera e Breitling Transocean