Yasuharu Abe's Theory on Patek - Part 1 - Encounter with PATEK World Time Ref.5110J

Hello everyone.

My name is Yasuharu Abe, a watch appraiser at Commit Ginza.

As some of you may already know, our other appraiser, Kaneko, has written an introductory article mainly about ROLEX.

I have decided to regularly publish articles on Patek Philippe, the area I am most knowledgeable about, including my own personal views.

Please read it!

Commit Ginza Watch Store Appraiser Yasuharu Abe

It may sound like an exaggeration, but my career with watches began in October 2004 , when I joined my previous job at a watch shop where I had been very grateful for all my help.

It's embarrassing to say, but the only brands I knew at the time were Rolex, Omega, and Tag Heuer. I had no idea about the world's three biggest watch brands, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin.

*By the way , at that time it was called Vacheron Constantin.

I have had the good fortune to see many Patek Philippe watches, but the first one that really struck me was the "World Time Ref.5110J

Announced in Basel in 2000, discontinued in 2006 "Ref. 5110P"

I remember that at the time, a used one was around 1.8 to 1.9 million yen (tax included).

(*The photo shows the platinum model.)

To put it simply, what shocked me was that when you pull the crown and advance the hour and minute hands, the 24- hour display ring also moves in tandem, and you can instantly see the time in 24 cities around the world that are listed on the dial!

What's more, if you press the push button at the 10 o'clock position tentatively, the city and time will jump together!

I was surprised by this, because the only GMT function I had known up until then was that it allowed you to see the time difference from your home time using the 24 -hour and hour hands.

I later realized that it doesn't support daylight saving time, but let's just ignore that (laughs).

The successor model, the World Time, was announced in 2006 . The main differences between the Ref. 5130 are that the case diameter has been increased from 37mm to 39.5mm , the design of the hands has been changed, and the design has been changed from guilloche engraving in the center to a sunbeam style.

"Ref. 5130P-001" announced at Baselworld in 2006

I believe that each has its own merits, but as the movement is the same and the size has just been changed, in my personal opinion, it is undeniable that the design of the city display section feels a bit stretched out, and I also prefer the " Ref. 5110 " because of the proportion of the movement that is visible through the see-through back.

When I first learned about Patek Philippe, the first watch I wanted, both in terms of design and function, was the World Time Even now, more than 15 years later, I still vividly remember that it was the "Ref. 5110J ."

There is no need to explain why I am fascinated by the distinctive blue guilloche dial of the " Ref. 5110P " that I will show later, and the diamond set at the 6 o'clock position, which is only allowed for platinum (lol).

I would like to talk about it to the best of my memory, including the background and prices at the time.